


The Devil You Know

by LillySteam44, SlipperySkell, TheFearsomeJabberwock



Series: Wild Wasteland, Baby! [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4, Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Headcanon Tweaks, Body Horror, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse, Recreational Drug Use, Slavery, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Unreliable Narrator, everything is bigger then in the game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2019-08-23 12:52:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 39
Words: 213,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16619333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LillySteam44/pseuds/LillySteam44, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlipperySkell/pseuds/SlipperySkell, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFearsomeJabberwock/pseuds/TheFearsomeJabberwock
Summary: “You’ve gone fuckin’ soft, Porter Gage.” Gage sighed as he pulled his hand down his face. He looked back up at the doors, his brows knit together. He was on the precipice of the abyss, and he found himself surprisingly ok with falling. He was tired, fucking god damn exhausted. He ached, deep in his bones from how much he’d run himself ragged in the last few months. He could have everything, and who would turn down a warm bed and a kind hand? Was it so bad to seek out comfort he hadn’t had for so long? Could anyone really fault him for wanting something more?-Porter Gage makes a deal with a Courier who fights her way through the gauntlet, and gets in far more trouble then he expected.





	1. Come With Me Now

The clatter of computer keys filled the cramped security office. The room was dimly lit, illuminated only by a single computer screen. Shadows were thrown across the wall by the man who sat in front of the computer, clicking and scanning through menus. His single eye scanned the list of cameras all over the park, the light damn near overwhelming. He found the camera for the first tram, clicking through and leaning back as the feed buffered. He cracked open a can of purified water as the static on the screen started to clear. When the stream had loaded, he panned the camera around the dark tram to see if he could spot the new vic who saw through Harvey’s little sob story.

It took a moment for the camera to rotate and focus, but he was pretty sure he found the vic at the far end of the car. He couldn’t be certain, though, as everything was coated in inky darkness. The sun was setting when she boarded the tram, but now the parks were bathed in the darkness of a starless, cloudy night.

He squinted, trying to make out the details of her kit in the low light. He could tell she was tall from how far she stretched out. It made her look like she lounged in her seat with an almost arrogant attitude. She had a wide-brimmed hat and a long coat of some sort. There was a weird shape in the seat beside her- a bag, maybe? Looked like she had two rifles too, big ones. He frowned and let out a short huff of annoyance. It woulda been easier if she’d taken the tram in the daylight.

She lifted what he figured was a cigarette to her mouth, the flash of her lighter illuminating her face. She had dark skin and was dressed in mostly black as far as the man could tell. The ember was a speck of light he could focus on. The stock announcer kicked on, the vic jumping slightly and looking up at the speakers in the tram. She rested her chin on her arm as the robotic announcer began its spiel about the parks and sights to see. Her gaze fell upon the great faux mountain in the middle of the theme park. Fizztop Mountain.

The man looked at the computer clock, five minutes until the tram docked.

He grabbed his pack of smokes out of his pocket and tapped a cig out. He put it to his mouth, lighting it with practiced ease. He took a long drag, trying to steady his nerves.

Showtime.

He hauled the heavy microphone across the desk, flicking the switch on the base and interrupting the announcer in a hail of static. The vic came out of her skin and shot out of her seat, looking around the tram frantically.

“Well, well, well. Look who learned the truth and still decided to show up?”

Any confidence he had built up before speaking was lost as tram passed a tree littered with fire-cages, briefly lighting up the entire car with an amber glow. Her eyes reflected a deep red in the light, and they were locked directly on the camera.

Like she was looking directly at him.

He forced out a chuckle as he felt anxiety crawl up his spine like little bugs. It made him squirm in his seat and caused him to lose his train of thought for a moment.

“Guess Harvey played his cards right after all.” He licked his lips, taking a steadying breath as discomfort leached into his voice. Her eyes remained locked on the camera, and he felt like her gaze was burning through him.

He shook the thought from his head and steeled himself- he had to get this done before she docked, before anyone else could get their hands on her. He took a drag on his cig, letting the smoke flow from his nose.

“The names Gage. Porter Gage,” he drawled, trying to sound casual- conversational even. She bared her teeth, and Gage watched as she gestured wildly. The closer the tram coasted to the dock, the clearer the feed got. He followed her wild movements and the silent words that poured from her mouth. He tapped the ash off of his cig, tilting his head as he watched her.

“Our mutual friend Harv only told you half the story, you’re heading right into a death trap. But-” The vic paused, causing him to trail off momentarily.

“But,” he started again. “If you make it out alive- I have an interestin’ offer for you.”

He took another drag to calm his nerves as he waited for a reaction. He never got the chance to see it, however, as the tram was just pulling into the station.

It was time. She had about a minute before she was going to be chewed up by the gauntlet. Gage decided to wrap it up.

“In the meantime, have fun, and put on a good show. I’ll be watching.” With that, Gage flicked the off switch to the microphone.

The internal lights flickered on when the tram docked, allowing Gage to see the vic and her gear much more clearly. He observed intently as she hauled up two rifles from the seats. The first was a huge anti-materiel rifle, .50 cal if he had to guess based on the sheer size of the thing. The second was a chunky gauss rifle, modified all to hell with all sorts of gizmos attached to the barrel. Honestly, he wouldn’t have been able to tell what the hell it was if he hadn’t seen the magnets.

She then reached under her seat to grab a duffle bag before she hooked the strap over her shoulders. The shape that was in the seat next to her was a powered down eye-bot with a bunch of junk metal strapped to it. It booted on and arose from the seat slowly, seemingly woken by the vic’s movements.

The vic jerked her head in the direction of the door, motioning for the bot to head that way. It followed her as she walked up to the lip of the doorway, stopping as she turned to look back at the camera one more time. She had metal chest armor with “SCAVVER” written across the chest in bright red, an interesting choice. Gage watched the screen curiously as she stared unblinkingly once again. It really did feel like she was staring at him through that damned lense... Gage’s thoughts scattered and he recoiled as she suddenly reached into her coat and pulled out a massive revolver.

The feed cut into static and leaned back in his chair. He sat in silence for a moment before a small chuckle escaped him, which quickly turned into full, barking laughter. He’d have to see if he could get someone down there to fix that camera later.

If he lived until later.

He shook the thought from his head and navigated the surveillance menus until he pulled up the station camera feed. He snuffed the butt of his cig out as the feed loaded. He moved to pan the camera to find her as soon as it became available. When it did, he watched as she stepped off the tram. The way she walked overflowed with confidence like she’d done shit like this a thousand times over.

“Attention to all my favorite undesirables out there!” an obnoxious voice blared out over the speakers. Gage rolled his eye. The Vic glared at the speakers in the station as the voice continued. “If you haven’t noticed, it looks like we got ourselves some FRESH MEAT to run the gauntlet!”

The voice belonged to the raiders’ local radio DJ, who just loved to provide colorful commentary for the masses who couldn’t watch the gauntlet live. Gage leaned on his hand, watching the vic react to the taunting voice. Gage’s soured mood momentarily lifted as the vic openly mocked the DJ. At least she shared the same distaste. He watched as she exchanged a glance with her eye-bot. She then laughed and shoved it before making her way down the stairs into the first leg of the gauntlet. Redeye, unamused with her mockery, made sure to describe previous combatants and their deaths in great detail. Gage navigated his own feed to the next room, pointedly ignoring the voice on the loudspeakers as his thoughts whisked him away once more.

He needed her not to die like those chumps. Gage needed her to be good. He needed her to be smart, competent, not get maimed. He needed her not to be a god damn fool. He couldn’t afford for her to be.

The Bosses had made their ultimatum. Colter had to die.

And Gage had less than a week to make that happen.

By all means, it shouldn’t have been difficult. Just about anyone would be a better boss than Colter. The catch? They couldn’t be from any of the gangs. They had to be completely neutral like him. Anything else would cause an all-out war between the three gangs that controlled the parks.

Gage hated it. He hated every part of it. He was desperate and angry. He’d believed in Colter! He busted his ass for that fuck to secure treaties, gather up manpower, to direct raiders to rout shitty traders who didn’t know any better. All Colter had to do was take the rest of the parks. It would have been easy. It would have taken a month or two at most. It would have been great.

But what did Colter do? He sat on his ass, played with his power armor, and lazed about while Gage took all the heat from the bosses.

And what thanks did Gage get? A nice, black eye and a lovely fat lip to show off. And to top it all off, courtesy of Nisha, a knife pulled from his belt to his collarbones, just hard enough to get the point across.

The leader of the Disciples was going to make him pay for the mistake of putting Colter up as Overboss. Nisha made it crystal-clear she was going to torture him for as long as possible once he inevitably failed. She’d explained in great detail how she was gonna draw it out until he physically couldn’t handle it anymore. She was going to skin him alive, play skip rope with his intestines, take a spoon to his good eye --

Gage choked as his breath caught in his throat. He felt something warm and slick flow over his fingers. He looked down. The sharp pain of the aluminum can he had been clutching cut into his palm, bringing him back to the present. He threw the now crushed can over his shoulder and reached for a rag. He mopped up the water before grabbing his cigs, tapping another out. He took a deep breath before lighting it, letting the familiar routine calm him. He didn’t want to think about his encounter with Nisha anymore.

Her threats were not to be taken lightly, he had the stitches from their last encounter to prove it.

He looked back up at the screen and panned around the find the vic. While the feed loaded, he idly put the now dampened rag against the cuts dug into his palm. It stung, but he ignored it. When the feed loaded in, she was systematically destroying turrets one by one until the room was clear. Smart, albeit boring to watch. She took her sweet time going through the scrap, looking for anything that might be worth salvaging while RedEye bitched at her.

As far as the raiders were concerned she was boring, being all sensible and shit. It wasn’t fun to watch and it wasn’t keeping their attention. Gage had to agree, it was boring as hell to watch.

That is until RedEye made a particularly rude comment about the vic taking her sweet ass time.

The Vic turned to the cameras after the remark and hefted the bag off her shoulders, making sure to keep eye contact with them as she did so. She then unzipped it and turned it and dumped it out in the middle of the room. The scrap she had gathered and all the things she had with her fell out with what must have been a terrible racket. Gage snorted and RedEye let out a groan as the vic crouched down to go through her things. The lighting in the gauntlet was terrible, so Gage couldn’t make out jack shit about what she brought with her beyond a few unique items. He spotted the tell-tale blue glow of a Nuka Quantum, a med kit, and a metallic pink baseball bat.

It took her a solid god-damned hour to put all her shit back into her bag, and every time RedEye would complain she would just move slower and slower until she wasn’t moving at all. It was funny at first, but then it got tedious. Gage had gone through another cig by the time her pack had all its shit in it. He could understand petty. Hell, he was a petty fucker himself. But this? Honestly? This was going to make her a pain in the ass to work with.

If she lived.

Gage ended up dozing off as she worked her way through the different traps. He was so god-damned exhausted that only the voice of RedEye calling in Disciples to the Gauntlet got through to him. Gage shot up from where his head was resting on the desk, bleary-eyed and confused. He rubbed his face as he navigated through the cameras trying to find her. She’d made it through most of the gauntlet, seemingly unscathed, despite all odds. That was comforting at least.

She was busy carving some sort of message into one of the walls just past the mirelurk pit. Gage glanced at the clock. She’d been in the gauntlet for three hours now. He’d never seen someone last more than an hour, or even take more than that to get to the Cola Cars Arena.

Gage watched raptly as the shadows of Disciples crept from hidden doors, encircling the vic. Gage lit a new cig, shaking his head. She was gonna die here, stabbed to death by Disciple low-lives because she didn’t pay attention.

At least, that's what he figured was going to happen.

He didn’t expect her to twist and kill two Disciples with a knife she had hidden in her boot, nor expect her to throw it into the throat of a third. She moved faster than he could track, moving from raider to raider and mowing them down with practiced ease. Gage choked on the smoke in his lungs as she finished off the last Disciple. He was amazed at her brutal efficiency. A smile stretched across his face as she cleaned her knife on her jeans. A ring of corpses encircled her now.

As she moved to the next section Gage worked the camera to get a better look at what she had carved. As the camera focused, Gage laughed quietly and shook his head as he read the scratchy letters.

FUCK YOU RAIDER ASSHOLES  
\- WITH LOVE, KINCAID

Kincaid.

Gage quirked his brow and rolled the name around in his mouth. It was an interesting and fussy name for her. He lit his fifth cigarette and sighed as she worked on the countless tripwires in the landmine hallway.

His eye narrowed and he tapped his thigh in thought as he watched her go. It was obvious she was trained with how quickly she took down the raiders, not to mention how easily she was going through the traps. The question now was this: where the hell was she trained? She sure didn’t move like any self-taught waster Gage had ever seen. She could have been a defected Brotherhood of Steel knight, but she didn’t have any of the typical heraldry that they usually kept. Maybe she was a Gunner? Was she some high-ranking officer gone rogue or the like? It would explain her firepower, and the fancy modded gauss rifle.

He pondered more options as she moved closer and closer to the final stretch. She took very little time to clear out the infested warehouse, but Jesus, did she take a long time to clean that metal bat of hers. Gage tossed the stub of his seventh cig into the ashtray and let out a heavy sigh. She was so damn close to Colter now, just the home stretch left.

Audience Participation.

She perked up as Redeye drawled on about her violent death at the hands of the “audience”. She looked at her eye-bot, which twirled in the air and swayed from side to side. Gage felt shivers go up and down his spine as she laughed, her face splitting into a bloodthirsty grin.

This was going to be a proper show.

She injected herself with something and was off to meet the “audience” in person. She mowed through the Pack Animals with her big gauss rifle, the force of the blasts coming from it ripping their flesh to shreds like it was nothing but paper. She charged through Disciples and cut them to pieces with nothing but a bowie knife and her bare hands. Her rifle tore through Operator flesh like a hot knife slicing through butter. Gage sucked in a breath through his teeth as she painted the walls with viscera, painting the gauntlet in red. She mowed down any raiders who got in her way on the ground and felled all who tried to take her from above. Each step came to her so easily, he could have sworn she had run the gauntlet a thousand times. The bodies above her were dripping like a macabre rain and the bodies below were splattered like paint. She was brutal and messy, and she enjoyed it.

Gage did, too. He loved every moment of watching her tear through their ranks. If he could control that, she would be perfect to keep the gangs in line.

Keep them afraid.

She turned to meet a Disciple who thought they could sneak up on her and put a fifty caliber bullet right between their eyes. She spat on the corpse as she walked past and pressed through the grenade bouquets in front of her like they were nothing more than cobwebs. As she approached the last one, she pulled it off and casually tossed it under a turret in the corridor ahead. Gage watched her make herself comfortable as the explosion hit. Droplets of her opponents’ blood dribbled down her face as she lit a cig. She looked to her little eye-bot, seemingly talking at it as they moved on to the next obstacle.

Long strides carried her to the next set of raiders. They were nothing more than a trio of runts looking to prove themselves. Little did they know, they’ve bitten off far more than they could chew. All of them took a step back as Kincaid rounded the corner. From Kincaid’s duster came that massive revolver once again. Two bullets comfortably seated themselves right into the chests of the raiders on the fringe of this little group. The final raider found her revolver right under their chin before their head exploded into a shower of blood, grey matter, and bone.

Gage watched, completely enthralled at this point until a buzzer behind him went off and shook him from his daze. He looked behind him, and then to the camera feed. Shit. He shoved his chair back and grabbed a red toolbox on his way out of the security office. His steps quickened as Colter’s brash voice filtered through the hallway.

“GAGE!” the man snarled. “Get over here and help me suit up!”

Gage entered the arena as fast as he could, though. Colter turned to him as Gage jogged over and set down the toolbox.

“Jesus! You move slow as hell. It’s almost like you want another beat down,” Colter sneered.

Gage flinched as Colter playfully smacked his cheek with a laugh, and Gage swallowed down the bile that rose to his throat.

With any luck, the fucker would be dead by sunrise.

Colter lit up a cigar watched Gage as he pried open the jury-rigged power armor.

“So what did you think of the vic Gage?” Colter asked, Gage looking over as he struggled with the hatch. With a groan the metal slid open, Gage taking a step back.

“She’s got a mean streak, Boss,” Gage told Colter, taking a drag on his own cig as Colter climbed into his suit. Gage jumped and caught the lip of the hatch, hanging off of it for a moment until it started to slide shut. Once Colter was secure, Gage fished a massive wrench out of the kit. It was heavy and stained with blood.

“You’ll want to go after her with the sledge, make a real impression,” Gage told Colter absent-mindedly. He worked on the security bolts, tightening each one by one. “Maybe finish her off with the shotgun... For a good splatter. Keep the gangs’ attention.”

Gage spoke distractedly, his gaze stuck to the wrench before snapping his attention back to the security bolts on the back of the power armor. Colter hummed and nodded.

Colter turned away from Gage as an alarm went off. Gage swore quietly as the wrench was pulled out of his hands.

“Ah!” Colter cooed. “There she is! What a pretty little thing!”

Gage looked up as Colter took a step forward.

“Aren’t you something special!” Colter chirped with a deceptively pleasant tone. “I’m half tempted to have you gassed and brought up to Fizztop! I could have some REAL fun with you there.”

Colter’s laughter made Gage physically ill, so he tried to focus on her instead. On Kincaid.

His eye met hers and Gage couldn’t repress a shiver. She stood unmoving at the glass, her icy, unceasing gazed focused on him. She was silent and still, even as the eye-bot behind her swayed and beeped to get her attention. Her eyes locked on Colter next, and Gage got a shred of satisfaction as Colter took a step back.

“GAGE! Go turn off that blasted alarm. I want to have a word with this little doll.”

Gage snapped to attention at the order. He slid the wrench into the toolbox before turning to Colter.

“Right away Boss.”

He jogged back out of the arena and went to the terminal just outside. He hit a few buttons, and before long, the shrill beeping went quiet. He slid the door to the arena shut as well and made sure it was locked for the upcoming fight. Raiders were already starting to pour in, taking up seats in the bleachers. Gage’s attention went back to Colter and Kincaid as the Overboss tried to rattle her.

“Come on doll, give the Overboss a nice smile!” Colter jeered. The waster stared down at him with a face like stone. Kincaid didn’t move. Not even the rise and fall of her breathing could be seen. The most she did was tilt her head and narrow her eyes.

“You give me only a wee kiss and I’ll think about lettin’ you live,” Colter offered, his arms outstretched. She quirked a brow, causing Colter to belt out an uproarious laugh. The laughing didn’t stop. It sent shivers up Gage’s spine. It was digging up memories, memories of cold, mocking laughter as Colter’s meaty hands closed around his throat and-

Nope. Just, no. Gage was not going to think about that.

Colter cooed at her some more and when she did respond he got angry. She raised a single hand and flipped him the middle finger. Colter spat at her before putting on his helmet before whipping back towards Gage.

“Let the ungrateful bitch in, Gage!” Colter snarled as he made his way towards his gear. He couldn’t see his face, but Gage could practically hear the smirk coming from him. “Something tells me I’m REALLY going to enjoy this,” he growled. Gage swallowed hard before giving Colter a thumbs up. He then turned tail and rushed towards the security office. He moved as quickly as he could and slammed the door shut.

This was it. It was just his life on the line, no pressure. Just a strange waster between him and painful, agonizing death.

Gage pulled up the security feed and idly chewed on his lip as the feed loaded in. She entered the locker room and he made sure to close the door behind her, trapping her and the bot inside. There were no cameras in there, so he had to trust that she wasn’t going to do the same thing the last one did.

They still hadn’t cleaned the brains off of the walls.

Gage flipped the switch on the microphone and put a cig to his lips before lighting it. He waited a moment before letting the smoke flow out of his mouth. “Find the intercom on the wall- I only got a minute!”

He waited, letting out an impatient sigh as he tapped his free hand on his thigh. A minute drug on, and then another, and another. Gage licked his lips and took another drag on his cig. He blew out the smoke and pulled the microphone closer.

“I know you’re fucking in there, Kincaid,” he growled.

“What's up?” she asked. her voice filtered through the speakers and clawed its way up his back. It was bright, bubbly, but with a sharp edge. He expected her to have more of a rasp, a smokey sounding voice. It didn’t matter much honestly. Just took him by surprise. He closed his eye and let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, steadying himself.

“This ain’t no time for you to be fucking around. We got work to do,” Gage hissed. He shook his head anxiously as he heard nothing but soft chuckling on her end.

“I stashed a red gun in one of the lockers,” Gage growled, “Go grab it. It’s important.”

He swallowed down his anxiety. What if a raider had found it and took it? What if Colter knew what he was planning - what the bosses were planning? What if it was gone? She was fucked if the squirt gun was gone.

“Dinky little water pistol? With Thirst Zapper written on the side?” she asked, sounding confused as hell. “I already grabbed it.”

Gage let out a sigh as he felt relief wash over him. With that stupid little water gun, she had a chance to kill Colter.

“Yeah, that's the one,” he responded as he took another drag from his cigarette. Kincaid’s voice screeched through the speaker, which startled Gage and caused him to drop his cig. He growled lowly at the cig on the floor before stomping it out before turning back to the mic.

“SURE! A squirt gun is TOTALLY gonna work!” Kincaid snarled. He completely missed the first part of her rant, but he could still piece it together.

“How in the everloving FUCK am I going to beat a man, in power armor, with a fucking squirt gun?” She roared. “Give me fucking ammo, for Christ’s sake! Jesus, Mary, and whoever the fuck!”

Gage rubbed his face and tapped out yet another cig as she went on another tangent. “I only got twenty-five more rounds for Pete, no batteries, and only twelve more pucks for Tom!”

Gage squinted, trying to think. Who the hell was Tom? Pete? They didn't have time for this, she was wasting precious moments that could easily end in some raider rat walking in and finding him in the middle of a coup to kill the boss.

“Are you listening?!” She demanded. Gage pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Listen, it’s the perfect wea-”

“BULLSHIT, IT IS!” Kincaid snarled, her voice cracking as she spoke. Gage glared ahead at the screen, counting down from ten. “It’s a fuckin’ toy, is what it is! You’re gonna get me killed! And when I die, I’m gonna come back and get you killed, too!”

Kincaid’s voice was overlaid by frantic beeping. Gage could feel the migraine starting to build behind his eyes. He went to open his mouth to speak but was interrupted once more.

“When you said an interesting offer! I EXPECTED caps! Women! Power! Not a fucking TOY GUN!”

Gage ran his hand down his face and shook his head. Every time he would try and talk, she’d just go right back into it.

“You still there or am I on my own, Cowboy?!” Kincaid asked. There was a small beep from behind her.

Gage growled and got close to the mic, his patience running thin.

“That TOY is going to win this fight for us!” he snapped. He heard a huff on the other side, but nothing more. He took this as an opportunity to continue.

“Now fucking listen, and give me a god damn minute to explain!” Gage growled before taking a deep breath. “Look, I ain’t so much of a fucking dick that I’d leave you with nothing alright?! There’s some fifty cal in the bathroom mirror that you should be able to use for one of your rifles, but it ain’t gonna mean shit without the zapper.

“Now, before you go off again, let me explain,” Gage grumbled. “You made it this far, so you obviously have skill. But this fight coming up is rigged, you get me?”

“No. Shit.”

Gage rolled his eye and bit his tongue. He let out a huff and looked over his shoulder, checking to see that no unwelcome ears were prying. The coast was still clear.

“Look, it’s going to work.” Gage drawled. “Overboss Colter... his power armor is set up to draw energy from the electric grid in the arena. Makes it nearly invincible. You name it, someone has tried it.”

“Miniguns, Grenades, fucking rockets. Not a fucking scratch.” He shook his head at the thought of all those failed attempts.

“You get what I’m sayin’?” Gage asked. He took Kincaid’s hum as a “yes.” She didn’t sound happy, but hey, he’d take it.

“But once that water hits Colter’s electrically charged armor?” he drawled as his hand tapped faster on his thigh, “Blam-o. The circuits are gonna short out, and it’ll kill his defenses. But you’ll only have so much time to do damage before the grid recharges, and he’s invincible again.”

Gage tapped out another cig and put it in his mouth before quickly lighting it. He took a short drag and let the smoke flow out of his nose. “You take him out and I promise you, it’ll be worth every minute you spent in the gauntlet.”

He waited with bated breath for her reaction.

Kincaid hummed again. “I see.” Gage let out a relieved sigh.

“That’s damn clever.” She continued. “Wouldn’t expect that shit outta a raider. You’re right Machiavellian, ain’tcha?”

Gage made a confused noise and she laughed softly. “Figured.”

He heard a sigh pass through the speaker. “Alright, cowboy. I’ll bite. But if this doesn’t work? I’m gonna take you down with me.”

Gage couldn’t help but laugh. She said it with such conviction, but she really had no idea. if it didn’t work, a fate worse than death awaited him.

“If this don’t work you won’t be alive to do much, but fair enough I s’pose,” Gage told her. He clicked through the commands, opening the doors to the locker room. “The door is open, see you on the other side.”

He pushed himself to his feet and turned away, but looked back curiously when the computer beeped at him. He cocked an eyebrow as he scanned over the screen. The power grid was in a reboot, like someone had sabotaged one of the generators.

“Did you do that?” he asked, pulled the mic closer and leaned on the desk.

“Do what?” Kincaid asked, feigning innocence. Bullshit.

“Power to the arena is down by thirty percent. How the fuck did you manage that?” he asked. His eye widened slightly when he heard her laugh. He pulled up the grid and sure enough, one of the generators was down and didn’t reboot. Kincaid laughed on as his brows knitted together.

“I saw a fusion core so I grabbed it, I tend to pick up damn near everything not nailed down and these little bastards? They get mad caps in most markets.” Kincaid said smugly. He could almost imagine her tossing the core in her hand while she spoke.

Gage hummed thoughtfully while he took a drag on his cig. “Well, that will help. You’ll still need the squirt gun, but sure as shit he ain’t gonna charge back up near so fast,” Gage told her. A twist of anxiety wrenched through his guts as he watched the alert ping that she was through the door. He turned off the mic and put out his cig in the ashtray before getting to his feet.

His life was in her hands now.

He made his way through the halls to the control booth and saw Kincaid stride into the waiting room. She was about as tall as he was and walked like she had never lost a fight in her life. Her stony expression turned into a violent smile as she looked at the bleachers full of hyperactive raiders. Colter called out to each of the gangs, one by one, to work them into a frothing frenzy.

“DISCIPLES! ARE YOU READY FOR BLOOD!?”

The Disciples were snarling and screaming like banshees unleashed. Nisha perched on her warped metal throne with a sneer on her face as her people swarmed. They were clad in their dark leathers and metal masks, hitting the walls with their bladed weaponry. Most of them were encrusted or covered in blood. Gage could have sworn Nisha looked his way but he did his best to keep his gaze off of her. Didn’t stop the shivers that crawled up his spine though.

“PACK! ARE YOU READY FOR THINGS TO GET WILD!?”

The pack was just about climbing the metal grating that protected the glass of the arena. Mason threw bottles at it and howled like a madman. The colorful raiders were clad in pelts and shoddy theatre masks. They were waving colorfully painted rifles or following their leader’s example by howling, too. The racket irritated Gage’s growing migraine, and when Mason’s gaze went from Colter to Gage, they locked eyes. The Alpha gave him a sharp smile and Gage looked away while taking a drag on his cig.

“OPERATORS! ARE YOU READY FOR ME TO NOTCH ANOTHER KILL!?”

Half-hearted applause. The Operators, in contrast to the other two gangs, were sitting prim and quiet in the upper stands. Mags and William both sat at an heirloom table, sipping booze and reading a book as they waited for the bloodshed. The metal armor glinted in the arena lights, making the Operators’ fancy suits stick out. Like old world nobles, they gazed down, judging the rabble of the other gangs.

Gage turned his attention back to Kincaid. She was working on a weapons check as Colter walked up to her. The eye-bot had the bag strapped to it, leaving Kincaid with only the essentials. A good sign, as far as Gage was concerned.

First, Kincaid whipped two revolvers from her jacket - the massive one he had seen before, and one new one. She spun them on her fingers and checked the ammo for both before reholstering them.. She then pulled the shotgun from her thigh holster and checked the ammo for that before cocking it, single-handedly. She slid it back into its holster with ease and picked up the gauss rifle in a single smooth motion. She lights on it flickered on one by one while Kincaid loaded up the solid metal puck. She checked over the barrel and nodded to herself before spinning the rifle and catching the grip in her hands. Kincaid squared her shoulders and looked up at Colter as the barrel landed squarely in her grip.

“And you! Are you ready to die?”

She tilted her head to the side as her self satisfied smile pulled into a snarl. Gage tried to spot the thirst zapper on her, but it was nowhere to be seen. Panic washed over him when he realized this, but it was too late now, though. The door slid open and she stepped into the arena.

Gage lit another smoke. His hands quivered so badly he could barely light it.

Colter made the first move. He charged Kincaid, who effortlessly stepped out and dove behind cover. Colter followed in suit and brought his sledge down. It hit the ground with a shattering thud but missed Kincaid by only a hair. She whipped out her pistols and let her rifle hang freely from its straps. She popped colter with a few shots, but the bullets bounced harmlessly off of his helmet. Colter gave chase once more. Kincaid vaulted over bumper cars and kept just out of his reach.

Gage gripped the railing so hard his knuckles went white as he tried to keep himself steady. He sucked in a tense breath as Colter threw aside his super sledge and reached for his shotgun. She was going to die if she kept this up. She couldn’t toy with the Overboss and come out alive.

Kincaid ran full tilt to the edge of the arena and hopped up one, then two bumper cars. She clambered up one of the cola bottles. Colter snarled at her and aimed his shotgun with one hand. Kincaid looked back at him before shoving herself off the bottle. She landed on Colter, sending him stumbling back. He scrambled in a panic as she pried at the grating on his helmet. Without her feet on the ground, the electric shield did next to nothing to her. She started pulling out wires and throwing them aside as Colter tried to grab at her. She pushed off him before rolling back to her feet. She tossed some sort of electric board in her hand as she watched Colter struggle to regain his balance. Colter turned to her just as she caught the board in her hand and crushed it with ease.

"Our vic here has given us a new record!” RedEye crowed through the speakers. “Too bad she ain't doing shit all to Colter. Got mad guts though."

Gage took a long drag on his cig. He could feel the cold seeping from his core, the weight of his future settling on him. Nisha would probably grab him before he left the arena and pull him into the darkness of the stands. She'd take a knife and bring it from his groin to collarbone - splitting his torso in two. She'd make sure to take out his intestines and let them writhe on the floor while Gage slowly bled out. That was her style if he remembered right. Stims to slow bleeding, then torture. He let out a steadying sigh as his head swam with thoughts. He should have cut ties sooner. He shouldn't be dying for someone like Colter. Gage coughed out smoke as he looked up and saw a flash of bright plastic red in Kincaid's hand. His world seemed to slow to a crawl.

She had her back to Gage as Colter loomed over her. She whipped the thirst zapper forward and shot it like a revolver. One, two, three. Three shots of water right into Colter's chest.

“What the hell? Was that a water gun?” RedEye asked as electricity arced and the Overboss convulsed.

Colter screamed and Gage leaned forward, eye wide. Kincaid spun the squirt gun as Colter dropped to one knee. She blew on the tip as if blowing off smoke as Colter tossed aside his helmet, his eyes wide as he stared at her. She blew him a kiss and Colter turned to look at Gage.

Gage dropped his cig. He could feel the hatred radiate off of the Overboss.

“Porter! you are a dead man!” Colter snarled. Gage backed away from the glass out of habit. RedEye let out a gasp as Kincaid squirted Colter in the face to get his attention.

Gage glanced over at the DJ with dread as he stood up with a giant grin. “Someone’s mechanic is toast!”

Gage shot him a dirty look, but it didn’t get him anywhere, as RedEye was slapping his thigh in his booth as he laughed. The entire audience was on the edge of their seats, chaos in the stands.

Kincaid dodged Colter’s gun, keeping just out of reach as he chased after her. Her dinky little eye-bot kept zapping the Overboss in the ass as Kincaid peppered him with pistol fire. Colter snarled and glared at Kincaid before turning and grabbing the eye-bot by some of its junk metal. The eye-bot let out a long, shrieky beep in panic. Kincaid took her chance and ran up Colter’s back, climbing him like he was a god damn cliff side. Colter let go of the eye-bot and wheeled around, trying his damnedest to reach Kincaid as she hauled herself up his back once again.

Colter went still as he found Kincaid standing on his shoulders. Her Gauss rifle wasn’t even an inch from Colter’s forehead.

He wasn’t even ten feet in front of Gage.

“Shit-”

Before the Overboss could finish, her gun charged up. The lights down the barrel glowed brighter one by one and the magnetized metal shot out with a loud bang. Colter’s head exploded into a hail of bone and brains, splattering Kincaid in a shower of viscera The body shifted and Kincaid shifted with it, riding the dead weight down.

Thud.

The arena was silent as the corpse hit the floor. Kincaid stepped down and rolled her shoulders. Her eyes locked on Gage, and she tilted her head. The raiders were silent, on the edge of their seats.

“Gage? Wh-What the fuck just happened?” he asked, standing in his booth. He sounded almost timid.

Gage’s face split into a smile, his eye wild as he snatched the microphone hanging to his side. He pulled it close, leaning forward. He let the silence linger for a moment more when he was sure he had everyone attention he spoke.

“SHE KILLED COLTER!” Gage proclaimed, a murmur rippled through the crowd. “You saw it! WE ALL SAW IT!”

Gage looked back to Kincaid, locking eyes. He got that shiver up his spine again as they stared at each other. He couldn’t decide if he liked it or not, but he certainly did not have the time to think about it.

Questions were hurled at him rapid-fire, from RedEye, from the bosses, from runts who were wondering what this upheaval meant for them.

“Look!’ Gage snarled as he turned to the crowd of raiders. “She’s skilled enough to run the gauntlet, smart enough to take my advice! If someone could kill that sonofabitch, then they have rights to being the Overboss! She’s what we need!”

Gage straightened up, looking at each of the bosses in turn.

Nisha stood and held her hands out for the Disciples to quiet.

"You better know what the hell you're doing, Porter Gage," Nisha snarled. Gage looked at the bloodied raider boss with a narrowed eye.

"We talked about this," Gage snarled lowly. His fists tightened as the boss stared him down. Nisha turned to look at Kincaid. She appraised the scavver, who matched her glare as she wiped brains off her face with a little pink kerchief.

Each of the other bosses stood as well. Mason came up to the glass and paced.

"She don't look like much, Gage. Hope for your sake I'm wrong," he said with a laugh. Gage narrowed his eye once again. "It’s your head on a pike. That is if Nisha gets to you first."

Mason chuckled like it was some sort of joke. His Pack mimicked him, like a bunch of cackling monkeys.

Gage snapped and grabbed the mic again. "Hows about we show the new Overboss some respect!"

The Pack howled louder, the Disciples let out shrill screams, but the Operators, on the other hand, merely glared down at their new leader.

Mags turned to Gage like she was better than him. "She will get respect when she EARNS respect," Mags proclaimed.

Gage resisted the urge to flip the haughty boss off. Instead, he took a steadying breath and glared as she walked to the elevator from her booth. Her brother, William, followed suit. The rest of the Operators filed out with him, though some took lingering glances at Kincaid. The Pack was following not too far behind. Mason took a moment to sneer at Gage before making his way up the aisles. Nisha was the last to leave. Gage pointedly ignored her and her violent entourage.

Kincaid walked up to the glass like she wasn't covered in gore and viscera, a casual smile on her face, an almost friendly air about her. "I bet they are GREAT at parties." She said with a laugh. Gage cracked a small smile.

Her robot beeped and twittered. She took her bag from it. She shoved it playfully as it spun around in a circle and beeped.

Gage leaned against the railing, letting out a sigh of relief. "Now, I'm sure you have a lot of questions- but this ain't the place," he told her. She shrugged and her robot let out an aggressive set of beeps.

"Aight, but I still want shit answered Mr. Gage," Kincaid told him. He nodded in agreement. That was fair, honestly, after everything that just happened.

Gage hit the buttons on the pad next to the door and it slid open. She stepped through and he smiled, holding out his arms. She looked at him up and down. She had holstered her weapons, but honestly, he was sure that she could kill him six different ways just with one hand alone.

"What'd I tell you? Worked like a charm," he said with a tired grin. She snorted at him.

She was lean under that thick leather duster she wore, with a pile of bright pink curls tucked into a bun on top of her head. He kept himself open with his arms outstretched, letting her decide what she thought. She must have found him satisfactory, as she smiled and hooked her thumbs in her belt loops a moment.

Her robot, however, did not. It whirled at him, causing him to take a step back. It beeped furiously at him before Kincaid grabbed the bot by the chassis and yanked it behind her, not even seeming phased.

"Thanks to you. Not a bad plan, Mr. Gage," she told him, tilting her head with a small smile. He quirked his brow and she let out a small laugh, covering her mouth with one of her hands. She smiled at him and leaned forward.

"So, you've proclaimed me Overboss, but ain't even take me to dinner. For shame.”

Rolling her shoulders, Kincaid looked around and let her gaze fall on lingering raiders in the stands. Her robot kept beeping, and Kincaid kept shushing it. That was going to get very annoying, Gage decided.

Gage went to pull out another cig, and let out a small sigh of frustration when he found his pack empty. He looked up to her holding out a cig with a sympathetic look. She motioned for him to take it after a moment’s hesitation, so he did. After lighting it and taking a deep pull he turned to her.

"There's an awful lot of places here where the shadows can whisper-" he tilted his chin up and her gaze followed to cameras up above them. "and I ain't the only one with access."

She nodded and shifted from foot to foot. "Let’s go to your new quarters. It’s the restaurant on top of good ol' Fizztop mountain. We can talk there and keep the conversatin' to ourselves."

With that, he stepped aside so that she could walk past him. "Boss."

She looked him over curiously before taking the lead.

They walked briskly up the aisles, the eye-bot in close pursuit. It kept beeping at Kincaid, sounding all sorts of irritated. Gage let out a heavy breath. The whirl of its engines filled his ears, aggravating his headache. Kincaid gave him an apologetic smile.

“ED-E has some opinions,” she explained, draping an arm over the pissed off eye-bot. Gage raised an eyebrow at her and she laughed. ED-E beeped like it was indignant.

They shoved past raiders who were clamoring to get a view of the new boss. Gage growled at the ones who were venturing too close. As they made their way to the doors, Gage shoved them open and made sure the way was clear for Kincaid and her Eye-Bot. She let out a happy sigh at the cool night air. Honestly? Gage had to admit, it felt good after being holed up in the security office for hours. He led her through the ruins of Nuka Town, past the celebrating raiders and terrified traders. Kincaid took it all in as they made their way around ruined buildings and piecemeal repairs.

“The hell was this place?” Kincaid asked, looking to Gage as they picked their way around the cracked streets.

Gage shrugged and made a non-committal noise. “Some sort of theme park,” he told her.

Her gaze locked on a massive statue of Bottle and Cappy. She perked up as they walked past a pair of gossiping raiders, very obviously listening to them as Gage pulled open the gate to the Fizztop courtyard. Trash was piled everywhere, and the pond in front of the mountain had a sickly sheen over it. It reflected the makeshift lights the raiders had up, which made it look almost like a little sea of stars. Kincaid stared at it as Gage picked their path through the refuse. Ed-e beeped and Kincaid pulled the bot forward.

Gage taking a drag of his cig as he pressed the button to the lift. She stared upwards as the platform descended, letting out a low whistle as it settled. The eye-bot beeped worriedly. “I’m sure they have power up there, there are lights on.” She assured the little robot. Kincaid and gage stepped aboard. Ed-E took their place right beside Kincaid. With a lurch and a groan, they were pulled into the air. As they ascended, Kincaid turned around, and he heard her gasp. He turned and smiled as he looked at Nuka-Town lit up below. Like a canopy of stars, the little city twinkled, raiders milling about and going about their lives.

“It’s beautiful,” she told him. Gage nodded.

“Innit she? And this is only one park,” Gage told her.

He braced himself as the elevator docked, putting them to a halt. Kincaid turned from Nuka Town and recoiled. Gage looked over and chuckled, walking into the patio.

“Colter had some, fucked tastes,” he said as he walked past a set of mannequins posed to look like they were having sex. They weren’t the only ones set up in strange scenarios. “The digs are yours now, though. You can do whatever you want with them”

Gage turned and leaned against the bar that took up the center of the patio, glancing at Kincaid once he was settled.

Kincaid stepped off the lift and followed Gage to the counter while pointedly glaring at the mannequins.

“Oh, hell no,” she muttered. Ed-e beeped in agreement.

She knocked one of the things over and jumped at the clatter, causing Gage to snort. That was cute. Big, bad waster who just snuffed the old Overboss, getting startled by knocked over nicknacks. She looked over and stuck her tongue out at the old raider. Very mature.

“The view is something though, huh?” he asked again. A little smile crossed her face. She nodded and Gage relaxed, looking back to the window.

“Everything you see here is under your control, now that you’re in charge,” he murmured. She looked at him critically.

Gage glanced at Ed-E as the eye-bot made its way to one of the corners before powering down and gently lowering to the floor. The silence was welcome.

“So what’s the con?” She asked as she plopped down beside him. He snagged a fresh pack of cigarettes off the bar and lit one. She lifted her head and watched his mouth. Her eyes darted to his face and her eyebrow quirked.

“You really wanted Colter dead didn’t you?” She asked, changing the subject.

Gage shrugged as he took a drag. “Dead, out of the way. What's the difference? Either way, good riddance. The plan was a success.” Gage’s brow furrowed. “I get that you have no idea what's going on, and everything is coming at you real fast, but you need to listen. Taking out Colter wasn't just a last minute decision. It was something a few of us here have been working on for a while.”

“If it’s story time, I need booze,” she told him as she shucked off her jacket and chest armor. She tossed them to the side as Gage leaned over the bar and pulled a bottle of whiskey out. He sat down a shot glass and poured it out as she settled back down on her seat, clad in a pink tank top, black jeans with leather chaps, and deep brown cowboy boots. It was a look, Gage could admit that. Wasn’t sure if it was a good one though. Gage pushed her shot over to her.

She tilted her head and looked at him. “Not gonna join me?” She asked, sugar sweet.

“I don’t generally drink,” Gage said, taking a pull on his cig. She smiled after knocking it back and filled her glass again. She scooted it over.

“Certainly something like Colter’s timely demise is worth a shot?” she asked, leaning on the bar. He looked at her and narrowed his eye. He could refuse; see what kind of person she was - or he could partake and hopefully, she’d be more amicable to taking the job. He mulled it over for a few seconds before taking the glass and knocking it back. His face screwed up and he let out a huff.

Fuckin’ nasty.

Kincaid didn’t seem to care and poured herself out another before knocking that back, too. Gage decided the drinking was gonna be a problem.

“Now that he's actually gone, we've got ourselves a vacancy in the Overboss department. And guess what... You just got the job.” Gage told her. She looked at him with a cig hanging limply from her lips. She let out a snort before starting to light it.

“Alright, you’ve got my attention.” She told him as she blew the smoke out of her nose. He nodded and gave himself a moment to gather his thoughts.

It took him about half an hour to explain everything- the gangs, Colter, the dream, and the end game. He was a little unnerved by how still yet intently she sat. God, if Gage didn’t know better, he’d think she wasn’t blinking. It made anxiety shift in his guts. He lit another cig, taking a long drag as she rubbed her chin.

“So why don’t you lead?” She asked. “You’re capable and more than competent - least from the sound of it.”

He let out a breath of smoke as he laughed. Kincaid watched intently.

“Leading outright ain't my style, and there's already some blamin' me for supporting Colter all this time.” He told her. she nodded and poured herself another shot. “My talents are best put to use helping a new Overboss get all this shit under control. You get me?”

She slid a shot over to him. “And what talents do you have, Mr. Gage?” she asked as she leaned forward on her barstool, quirking a brow with a smile. He looked down at it, visibly thinking before taking the shot and grimacing. She laughed, before giving his shoulder playful smack and pouring out another for herself.

“Other than bein’ a good shot and having a foul mouth? I know these gangs- I’ve worked with them. Hell, I’ve worked against them. I’ve been running with raiders for years, and that experience’ll save your ass going into this,” he told her, looked back out the window. She pushed another shot over to him and he sighed before knocking it back.

“You drive a good bargain, Gage. I’ll give you that.” She also looked back out the window. “But I don’t want it. I’d rather be a part of polite society.”

She looked over and looked him up and down. He actively kept his shoulders relaxed and smoked like those words didn’t hit him directly in the gut. He needed her to agree, he needed her to be Overboss. It was both their heads on a platter. He ground his teeth a little and she poured herself another glass.

“Polite society?” he asked. She nodded and he barked out a laugh. “What has polite society ever done for you?”

She shrugged and he sneered. He could feel the booze but fuck if he wasn’t going beyond dread now and tumbling straight into anger.

“Polite society is full of chumps who scrape by only to get shot for lookin’ at the wrong scavver. I’m offering you the damn world, the fuckin means to own yourself and go beyond what ‘society’ expects you to do,” he scoffed. “I’m talkin’ about takin’ what you want, when you want it, how you want it. You’d have three gangs to do whatever the fuck YOU want. And you wanna go back to polite society?”

“And what if I want to be alone? Just a girl and her eye-bot?” she asked. He put out his cig and turned to her.

“Then be alone, and while you're alone, have your gangs out making caps and doing business. Come back to a fuckin’ stash.”

He poured her another shot and watched her down it. “You get a percentage of what each gang makes, from their trade, their raids, their tolls.”

She poured a shot for him and he pushed it back over to her. She knocked that back and looked at him.

“What kind of percentage?” She asked. He leaned forward and grinned.

“Colter was taking five percent. You could get away with seven,” he told her. She leaned closer.

“I wasn’t born this morning, Mr. Gage. There is no way in hell a shithead like Colter settled for five percent.”

Shit, she had him there. Colter thought he was getting fifteen, but Gage did the books.

“eighteen would be a lot more reasonable... If I were to actually accept the job-” she said. The booze was heavy on her breath. His momentary anger burned down to a simmer.

“You tryin’ to get me killed? I pull eighteen for you and the gangs will fuckin’ revolt.” He told her. She laughed and bit her lip. Not bad, considering... He looked at her mouth and then flicked his vision back up to her eyes. “Could probably pull eight though, if you do well.”

Well fuck, now he felt like an asshole, this was his new boss- not some raider girl looking for a cut of a haul.

“Oh no, fifteen at least!” she told him. He shook his head and poured her another shot.

“For my head on a pike: Nine at MOST,” he told her as she knocked back the glass. She tossed it over her shoulder and he winced as he heard it shatter.

“Twelve then! It’s not unreasonable! I’d be working as a liaison for all these fucks who can’t act like adults,” she told him.

He leaned back and acted deep in thought. It was exaggerated, but she still found it amusing as her laughter echoed through the patio. He liked the sound of her laugh. It sent shivers up his spine. Had to be the whiskey, Porter Gage didn’t fall for pretty faces. He shouldn’t have drank as much as he did. He was going to regret that later.

Jesus, he was regretting it now.

“Ten,” he told her. She looked him up and down. “It’s the most I think I could get you without Mags using my blood for her makeup.”

Kincaid nodded and he sighed heavily. They both looked out the window to the sky. It was getting pink and gold with the rising sun. Gage made a noise as he stretched and she turned back to him with concern.

“If you don’t work out, Nisha is gonna skin me alive,” Gage said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “And if they catch you leaving-- and they will catch you-- they’ll rip you apart and use you to decorate the market before they burn the whole park to the ground.”

She looked queasy as he let out a resigned sigh.

“So, you know I have a vested interest in you doing well. Kinda important to keep my head where it’s supposed to be.” He was going on a long shot, but maybe empathy was her deal.

She shuddered, pushing her hair back. “That's just fuckin disgusting.”

She pulled out pin after pin from her bun before pulling out a shiv, causing her hair tumbled down around her shoulders like a waterfall of soft, curly pink. Gage lit his cig to distract himself. He assured himself it was just the booze making him feel off, making him want to just watch her every movement.

“I ain’t sugar coatin’ it,” Gage told her, leaning against the bar. “The Disciples, in particular, keep an eye on this whole area, and they won’t take kindly to you up and going.”

She grunted as she got up and turned to him. “I leave, we die, it’s a bad ending, and no one will play us sad music.” He looked at her and cocked a brow.

She stripped out of her jeans and looked to him. “I want to sleep now. Where’s the bed?”

He stood up, pausing as his vision swam a little. Bed? Now? He guessed that worked. It was late and he was tired. “It’s uh, up there on that platform.”

While she stumbled drunkenly up the few stairs, he busied himself with disabling the lift. Insurance so that she couldn’t leave, and no one could ride up and shank her. He walked around the bar to the big double doors. “I’ll be sleepin’ in here Boss, if you need me.”

“Kay,” she told him as he spotted her thumbs up. He went inside and found himself regretting his life choices and the resulting migraine. He kicked off his boots, tossed the butt of his cig, peeled out of his tank top, and fell heavily into the single bed. His eye closed and he was out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fic I have ever published, and the first I've written in literal years. Any suggestions are appreciated, thanks for reading! 
> 
> For more about my Courier Six, you can check out her tag over on my tumblr here  
> http://thefearsomejabberwock.tumblr.com/tagged/Kincaid  
> I also have her playlist over here  
> https://open.spotify.com/user/fearsome.jabberwock/playlist/21xU99bidwpSp7qOb9C6tT?si=WjIK7tzHTrW44cbza1NfoQ


	2. Oh No

Gage was ripped from sleep by the uncomfortable feeling of being watched.

He shifted in his bed with a murmur before his eye snapped open. He was panicked before he even registered his vision was filled with green slime...

Or was it clay?

Honestly, it didn’t really matter that much to Gage at the moment. It was all bullshit.

He wriggled frantically as he tried to lash out. Tried to get this mutated creature away from him. He tried so hard despite his limbs being tangled up in his sheets, and the debilitating headache that was beginning to well up. He finally managed to wriggle an arm free and shot his hand under his pillow, where he kept his pistol. When he felt the cold metal against his hands, he gripped it tightly, preparing to pull it out when he started hearing peals of laughter. He squinted in confusion as his vision cleared.

And that’s when he saw the bright pink curls contrasting against the green crap. The laughter quieted to chuckles as Gage went slack.

"Gage, it's just me! It's okay!" Kincaid tittered with an amused grin. "I just needed to know if there was a shower here!"

Gage narrowed his eye as he mentally berated himself. What a fantastic start - the first day, and he almost shoots his boss. He looked up at Kincaid with a scowl, a small wave of anger suddenly bubbling through him.

“What the FUCK?” Gage said with a snarl as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. What were you thinkin’, standin’ over me like that with...”

His voice trailed off as he looked at the green shit on her face, which was now cracking and peeling away as her face contorted with laughter once more.

“The fuck do you got on your face?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but Gage shook his head and put up a hand. “Nevermind. I don’t want to know.”

He palmed his good eye and sighed. “There ain’t no showers in here. You’re gonna have to make do with sinks just like everyone else.”

“Explains the fuckin’ smell,” Kincaid retorted. Gage rolled his eye as she stepped away from the bedside and began to wander towards the patio doors. Her hands were resting on the handles when she turned to him with a curious look.

“You make it a habit to sleep with your eye patch on, Gage?”

Gage’s brow furrowed and he squinted at her for a moment. She looked back at him with a smug smirk before heading through the patio doors. When he heard them click shut, he ripped off his eyepatch and tossed it on his bedside table with a snort. He rubbed at the now irritated skin that laid underneath before grabbing his alarm clock and glaring at the display.

Seven in the morning.

Gage decided that was entirely too early to be awake.

After taking a very angry piss, he flopped down on his lumpy mattress and glared at the ceiling. Who the hell got up at seven in the fucking morning after being up until five or six? Assholes. Assholes get up and wake other people up at seven in the fucking morning. He scratched at his matted hair and let out an angry huff before letting his eye drift shut. All he needed was an hour or two more. Just that little bit to make it through the rough day ahead.

Gage woke up again to a pleasant smell drifting in the air. He sat up and inhaled, trying his best to figure out what the smell was. It smelt almost like… food. Like someone was cooking. His stomach growled painfully at the thought and Gage winced. It was an unwelcome reminder of how little food he’d been eating as of late.

He rubbed at his good eye groggily. Wasn’t like that was about to change any time soon.

Gage snatched up a rag from the end of his bed and wiped off the worst of the previous day’s sweat and grime from his face and neck. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and took a moment to yawn before tossing the rag back onto the railing at the foot of his bed.

He picked up his eyepatch from the bedside table and put it on, careful to adjust it so it didn’t scrape against his face any worse than it usually did. He shoved his feet into his boots before finally standing up. He didn’t bother tying up the laces. Instead, he just stuffed them under the tongue of each boot. He then moved over to the pile of mostly clean clothes in the corner of his room and dug around in it for his favorite tank top. He spotted the tell-tale green and snatched it from the pile. He held it out in front of him, triumphantly at first, and sighed.

Why did it have to be this one that Colter stained?

He shook his head and squirmed into the blood-stained tank top. He tucked it into his leather pants and cinched his belt before digging around in his pockets for the crushed pack of cigs and his lighter. He pulled both out and tapped out a cig before jamming the carton back in his pocket. He lit the cigarette and took a long drag.

Now he was ready to face the day.

He meandered into the kitchen, following his nose. The smell that had roused him had grown a bit stronger now. The savory scents of meat, and cheese, and… and all sorts of things he couldn’t get his hands on when Colter was still kicking. His body urged him onward, to investigate this heavenly scent, but he gave pause when he saw the figure standing in front of the stove.

Pink curls cascaded down her neck and down the back of an obscenely domestic looking little white sundress. It had a lacy bit around the neck and the bottom hem was covered in a pastel floral prints. Flawless nylon hose ran all the way up her legs, all in one piece, seam right up the middle of her calves. Little red heels clicked against the floor as she walked.

And when she turned? Gage swallowed hard as he noticed the neckline plunged just low enough to set his imagination on fire. Not to mention, she had a beautiful piece right in the center of her chest. It was a cow skull in a bed of flowers. The soft pinks and yellows stood out from her dark skin, with line work so delicate the piece must have cost a fortune. He tore his gaze away from her chest and flicked up to her face, but only found more anguish. She was wearing bright red lipstick, the kind that left horrific stains on whatever they touched. Gage couldn’t stop himself from staring at her mouth for a good second or two as a smug smile spread across her lips. He finally forced himself to turn his attention to the pot and metal spoon she was holding when the smell of food called to him once again.

Gage felt like he’d stepped right into a pre-war magazine. With the little docile housewife with food and everything.

“Enjoying the warpaint, Gage?” Kincaid asked.

Gage snapped his attention back to Kincaid and tried to hide his embarrassment, but it was too late. He could feel his cheeks heat up, and if her laughter told him anything, she saw it, too.

“I thought I’d make something to eat before we got to work,” Kincaid told him as she turned her attention back to the food on the stove. He watched as she slid a steak into the pan, the sizzling making his stomach snarl. “I don’t know about you, but I usually work better on a full stomach.”

Gage nodded and hummed in confirmation distractedly as his thoughts whisked him away. Looking at her, he became distinctly aware of himself. He was in ratty steel toe boots he’d sewn the soles back onto four times. His leather pants were a touch too tight and wore so thin in the knees they were going to blow out any day now. Not to mention those pants had a hole in the thigh where he was shivved behind the Nuka-Cade. His favorite shirt was torn along the hem and the neckline stained with old blood that clashed with the tank top’s dingy green. His face was probably splotchy from sleeping face down with his eye patch on, and he was still nursing a black eye and a fat lip. His hair was matted in a strip down the middle of his head.

Jesus. She was a bombshell, and he was a mess.

Gage snapped out of his thoughts and turned on his heel before making his way to someplace to sit. He flopped down in one of the chairs at the kitchen table, which often doubled over as his own makeshift desk when it wasn’t being eaten on. Or when it was. Didn’t matter to him, really.

He puffed on the cigarette he forgot was in his mouth before grabbing one of the pens strewn among the miscellaneous paperwork on the table. He glared at it as he turned it in his fingers. He felt like shit. He was hungry. And he sure as fuck was not going to ask her for any of her food.

That was how people got shot.

He tossed the pen a back on the table in frustration and dug his cigs out of his pocket. Despite the carton being crushed, this pack was relatively new. He counted the remaining cigs. By all means, there was enough to at least last the day. He ground the butt of his cig into the table before immediately tapping out a new one.

“We need to talk about that as a whole. Ashtrays keep furniture looking a lot nicer.”

Gage jumped at Kincaid’s sudden remark. Jesus, it was like she came out of nowhere.

He squinted at her, unable to think of any witty retort. She smirked and set a plate down in front of him. He stared at it dumbfoundedly. It was full of the food she’d been making earlier - mac and cheese, with a side of pan-fried brahmin steak.

He didn’t even ask…

She gave his shoulder a gentle pat before sitting down in the seat opposite of him and setting a bottle of quantum on the table in front of her. He was still staring at the food in awe.

“That’s for you,” she asserted when he didn’t start eating right away. “I made it for you. Can’t be working all day on an empty stomach.”

She waited for a moment, waiting for him to take a bite. She made a little motion with her fork and Gage looked down. For him. Damn. He took a bite and she smiled as his eye closed and he made the most embarrassing noise. She laughed and he didn’t even feel bad. It was the first real meal he’d had in a long while and he was going to fucking savor it.

His eye opened and he was comforted by Kincaid leaning casually against the table, chewing leisurely while playing around on her pip-boy. There was no pomp or decorum, no glaring at him for leaning on the table and shoveling food into his mouth. It was a reminder she was a wastelander. Messy, and just... a regular person.

Even if she did look like an atom bomb pinup.

“You looked like you had one foot in the grave," Kincaid mentioned idly, He tilted his head, raising a brow.

“You look like a fuckin’ starved animal, Gage,” Kincaid pointed out, pointing at him with a fork, “and you wandered into the kitchen like you had never been fed in your life.”

True.

He shrugged and chewed off a piece of steak. “You ain’t wrong," Gage conceded. It wasn’t like Colter shared, or really paid Gage his dues. Gage shrugged and continued to eat. They sat in comfortable silence, enjoying each other’s company.

“So are you going to take the job?” Gage asked. Kincaid looked up at him and frowned. She let out a heavy sigh and leaned back in her seat. She draped her arms over the back of the chair and looked away in troubled thought.

She looked back, tilting her head again and narrowing her eyes. “Listen, Mr. Porter Gage. I’ll admit it: the whole, ‘we’re both gonna die if you skip out’ is a convincing argument. I like my head where it is, and I am sure you feel the same.” Kincaid gestured at him with her fork, keeping her eyes unceasingly locked on Gage as she spoke.

He was sure of it now. She didn’t blink. It wasn’t just his shitty sleep habits driving him insane.

“But!” She chirped with a deceptively cheerful tone. “I don’t think you realize just how unfit I am for this god-damn job.”

Porter shook his head. Kincaid continued. “I’m willing to play along, though, Talk to the bosses, take a minute to see what kind of dumpster fire is going on here, see what all you having to deal with," Kincaid looked down at her food before spearing a piece of steak. “I ain’t going to leave you high and dry. I ain’t that much of a dick.”

Kincaid smiled reassuringly. Gage let out a sigh. It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than nothing.

“I’ll have a solid answer tonight for you. Alright?” Kincaid pressed on when he didn’t immediately respond. He nodded slowly. Kincaid flashed a smile before going back to her food, seemingly content. Another few moments of comfortable silence passed before Kincaid spoke up once again.

“I gotta go to the market, too. Get bullets, food, chems. The essentials, you know?” she said idly as if the silence was now bothering her. “My rations are low. I made the trip from the Mojave with pretty much just the caps in my pocket.”

“Chems?” Gage asked around a mouthful of pasta, frowning. She nodded.

He swallowed his food and let out a huff. “Nah, boss," he said carefully. He leaned back in his seat, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “No Chems.”

He grew more confident as he spoke. “You screw yourself up, and the bosses gonna sniff that shit out and you gonna go down, just like Colter.”

She looked him up and down, making a face. “Aren’t, like... raiders supposed to be okay with chems?” she asked, sticking a bit of steak in her mouth. Gage snorted and shook his head.

“No. Just, Jesus. No, Boss," Gage said exasperatedly. “Here’s what’ll happen: You’re gonna get blitzed, you’re gonna fuck up, and then Nisha is going to cut off your skin and use it as a throw rug while I’m made into a fuckin’ statement piece.”

He took another bite of his food while Kincaid laughed. He looked at her and raised a brow, making her pause and tilt her head. Her eyebrows knitted together as the realization set in.

“Wait, you’re serious?” she asked, leaning forward. Gage nodded and she stared at him for a moment. He ignored her and shoved a chunk of meat into his mouth. He met her gaze once again while he chewed. He couldn’t read her next reaction, so he prepared for the worst.

He swallowed and pointed at her with his fork, leaning on the arm of his chair. “You see, you gotta keep your head clear to handle the bullshit these fuckers are gonna throw at you. If you don’t, they will eat you alive. These ain’t no Commonwealth chumps, and these ain’t no highwaymen in it only for the money. I’ve seen too many otherwise good raiders go down because they done gone done some stupid ass shit. All because they got fucked up on too many chems.”

She kept her gaze locked on him, and Gage resisted to urge to squirm. He didn’t like the scrutiny, it made him want to go crawl into a hole. He could handle a few minutes of unblinking staring. Hell, Colter would do that sometimes when he was stoned. But this? Jesus, it was getting under his skin.

“So,” she started, tilting her head the other way. It reminded Gage of a dog almost- it was kind of cute. “You don’t drink, and you don’t do chems.”

“Mmhm," he shoved a piece of steak into his mouth, chewing as he watched her process this new information.

She sat back, narrowing her eyes. “Next thing you’re gonna tell me is that you believe in nonviolent solutions," Gage choked on his steak. He thumped his chest a few times with his fist, wheezing while Kincaid watched him.

When he could breathe again, he barked out a laugh and shook his head. “Oh, hell no!” he told her, leaning back and picking up his half spent cig. He lit it and took a drag. “Violence is usually the answer.”

She laughed, leaning on the table. “That’s good. I was afraid I was going to be dealing with some pacifist nonsense here. A raider who don’t kill people, do chems, or drink? That ain’t much more than a settler," Kincaid mused.

She took a sip of her Nuka-Cola as Gage smoked. “I use before battle, though, so you’re gonna have to deal with that. The psycho gives me an edge. Gets me into the mindset and shit.

“I was blitzed for most of the gauntlet. And then I got mad. And then I shot up just before the home stretch and was just blitzed again," Kincaid said with a shrug. That was going to be a problem, but he’d burn that bridge when he got to it. She sounded confident at least, even sober. That was more than some raiders Gage knew.

He snorted and let out a puff of smoke. “And yet you think you belong with polite society? You’re far more like a raider then you like to admit.”

She frowned, and Gage lived for it. She didn’t seem to grasp just how much like a raider she really was. With the right guidance, someone like her could make the most fearsome raider queen the United States had ever seen.

If he could get her to agree.

She shoved her chair back and got up, Gage followed suit. She watched as he moved to his section of the Fizztop Grille. Really the only thing that separated his shit from the rest of it was some sheets he’d hung up for privacy. She followed him though, and he tolerated as she watched him suit up. He shoved his pistol into his waistband and hauled up the heavy roll cage he usually wore as armor. The yellow bars crossed his chest, the paint chipped a little more each day. He’d have to apply another coat soon.

He heard her chuckle as he worked on the belts and looked up confusedly.

“Is that supposed to be armor?” she asked as he hooked his pauldrons to it. He nodded slowly and she laughed, shaking her head. “But, there are so many holes in it.”

He frowned as she gripped the bars that ran across his chest. “And why the rebar?” she pried, looking over his pauldrons. He pulled away and she laughed, looking him up and down.

“Rebar is easy to find, and it’s strong," Gage said with a shrug. It was cheap steel that was easy to scavv. It was armor. It wasn’t supposed to be pretty; It just had to stop any waster from killing him. Kincaid covered her mouth and Gage frowned.

“This isn’t going to save you from shit, though," she pointed out, doing a circle around him. “Someone could stab you so easy through those bars-” she punctuated her point by poking him in the ribs. He jerked away and she followed, getting up real close. He flinched away from her, leaning back and away from her hot breath on his face. “And these bars aren’t great for hand to hand either," she told him, pulling him closer to her. His face went red and his hands clamped over her wrists. They stayed like that for a minute, their gaze locked.

Gage hadn’t noticed she had cataracts in her right eye before. The hazel was all muddled.

He swallowed nervously and pushed her back. She started laughing and he turned to work on strapping on his weapons, trying desperately to hide the growing blush covering his face and neck. He hooked his rifle’s strap across his shoulders. He slid his knife into his boot and looked around. He needed something else, something with a little more impact. He rooted around the weapons tables nearby and picked up a sawed-off shotgun.

It used to be Colter’s gun. Not any more.

Gage turned and saw Kincaid heading for the patio, still chuckling to herself. He caught up to her as she held the door open for him. He followed her to the elevator, pausing as she stepped on.

“No weapons, Boss?” he asked, concerned. Kincaid grinned. It was maniacal looking, and it sent a shiver up his spine.

She pulled a knife from the belt of her dress and slid it back before tapping her heels together. Blades shot out from the toe of each heel. Now those had potential as far as Gage was concerned. She tapped them back in before reaching into her hair and pulling out two separate shivs. That would be handy in a scrap, Gage supposed. She slid them back into place with ease and shifted her weight to her right leg. Gage’s eye widened as she hiked up the hem of her dress, showing a thigh holster and her large revolver.

“You know an ‘I’m armed’ would have worked, Boss," Gage grumbled, feeling the heat crawl across his skin again. Her pink curls bounced around her shoulders as she let out a shrill laugh and shook her head.

“But that wouldn’t have been near so fun, and you wouldn’t be near so red," Kincaid countered. Gage frowned.

She smiled at him from over her shoulder, eyes twinkling with mischief. “Imagine how red you’d be if I’d pulled out the gun between my tits.”

Gage looked away from her with a flustered scowl. She laughed and he moved to stand beside her on the elevator. She called out to her little bot, which hummed to life and whirred over to the pair. It meandered over to them as Kincaid put her hands out. She brushed the dust off of the chassis.

“Ed-e, my love!” Kincaid chirped sweetly. “I’m going to go meet the bosses. You want to stay here, or come with?”

It beeped at her repeatedly, spinning in place. Gage watched her coo at it and make all sorts of baby talk at it.

Gage resisted the urge to gag. He’d sell it for scrap in a heartbeat.

It whirled and bobbed around in the air, beeping at Kincaid. “Alright. be careful, okay? I’ll be back here tonight," she told it.

It beeped before it went hovering around the room. Kincaid looked back at Gage. “Ed-e is going to do some scouting outside the park. See what there is to see.”

Kincaid hit the button on the lift and the engine purred to life. As they started to descend to Nuka Town USA proper, Gage lit a new cig. He took a long drag and as he let the smoke flow from his lungs Kincaid held out a cig, Gage lighting it for her. She put it to her lips and Gage made a point not to watch, keeping his eye straight forward.

Gage shifted from foot to foot, the excitement starting to crawl up his spine. This was it, Kincaid was going to meet the bosses.

From here he would know if he was entirely fucked or if he was going to make it to next week.

“I’m probably not going to be able to go with you to meet the bosses, they already think you’re nothin’ but a puppet," Gage said as he looked over at Kincaid, who blew a ring of smoke out of her mouth.

She looked at him, raising a brow. “Aren’t I?” she asked, Gage frowning as she looked away. That wasn’t good. He needed her to come off as confident and sure of herself- if the bosses got any confirmation that he was pulling the strings it would only be a matter of time before Nisha’s knife ended up in his guts. He looked ahead and frowned, taking another drag on his cig.

Gage looked back over at her, swallowing down his anxiety. “I sure hope not Boss, I need a partner. Not a mouthpiece," he told her, Kincaid looking over with surprise. He hooked his thumbs in his belt and glared at the mountainside as the elevator crawled closer to the ground. She stared at him for a minute before softly laughing, going back to her cig.

When the elevator hit the ground, they both stepped off in unison. Kincaid looked first left, then right.

“Let's go to the operators first," she said, heading left. Gage followed behind her, keeping step.

“Why, boss?” he asked confusedly. The disciples were right there in the mountain. They coulda just gone over and gotten the worst of it dealt with right away.

Kincaid paused at the gate and waited for it to open. “Because my makeup is too damn good to risk letting it get mussed before I get to the Parlor.”

She looked back at Gage and batted her long eyelashes for emphasis. Well, that was a valid reason, he s’posed. Nisha wouldn’t appreciate the work that went into looking like that in the slightest. Mags, though? It was something they had in common, and that common ground was going to be important to get the bosses on her side.

Gage shrugged and Kincaid took that as her answer. She walked through the now open gate like she owned the place. Her heels clicked against the cobbled pavement that lined the street. She scanned the littered streets with narrowed eyes. She stopped and put her hands on her hips, letting out a little huff.

“Gage. I want crews cleaning this shit up as soon as possible," she told him loudly. Loud enough so that everyone on the street heard it. The traders, the raiders, the travelers. A little smile pulled at his lips. She was making sure to make commands in the open, to declare herself the boss even if she hadn’t officially taken the title yet. Gage liked that, he liked it a lot. It would send the right message. Raiders milled about looked surprised, especially as Kincaid motioned them over. They were just kids from the Pack and the Operators, but they still hesitated like she didn’t just kill the last boss.

She motioned them over again impatiently. “Boys, go get some of your friends. Those of you who start cleaning will get a bonus.”

She then dismissed them with a flick of her wrist. Instead of moving, the raiders began whispering among themselves. They looked at her. Gage sighed. They were going to question the Overboss? Fine.

“Get your sorry asses in gear and do as the Overboss says!” Gage barked. “Did ya’ suddenly forget what just happened to Colter?” One of the raiders looked like they were going to sass him, but then their gaze when to Kincaid.

She had that massive revolver in her hands. She idly checked the chamber, and let it spin. Those bullets were massive, and Gage got to see the sort of holes they blew into flesh.

Kincaid let it click shut and raised an eyebrow. “Are we going to listen?” Kincaid asked, pulling the hammer back. “Or are we going to find out what Resolve does to uncovered flesh?”

The raiders looked among themselves, and one of them skittered off. She sighed, unimpressed.

“I would figure, after what I did to your comrades in the audience last night -” She paused to spin the revolver around her finger. “- that you all would be much more keen to listen when I spoke.”

“What do you want done, Boss?” one of the boys asked. He was a Pack animal who was too small for his wicker armor. Kincaid holstered her gun and smiled, clasping her hands together.

“I want the streets cleared," she told him bluntly as she looked around, the smile disappearing just as quickly as it came. “This place is a fucking dump.”

Gage snorted. She wasn’t wrong there; it was a dump. Everything was covered in trash and rubble. The buildings were falling apart at the seams if they weren’t actively being used, and even those that were were covered in corpses and trash. It wasn’t ideal, but Gage didn’t have much faith in raider cleanliness.

“You know how much of this could be scavved and used to bolster defenses?” Kincaid asked angrily as she nudged a plastic cup with the point of her heel.

The raiders kept quiet. She looked up and let out a heavy sigh. “Most of it. The answer is most of it.”

Kincaid crossed her arms. “So go. That’s your first job.”

She fixed the group of raiders with one more stern look before turning away and continuing up the street. Raiders parted for her, making sure her path to the parlor was clear. The raiders looked at Gage as he trailed her and he shot them a glare. They took the hint and scrambled off.

That confirmed it for Gage. She had more than just the potential to be the Overboss. She could be mean, violent, and messy. She could inspire and instill terror with only a shift in how she held herself. She was exactly what Gage needed and wanted in an Overboss.

He just needed her to see it, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is only about 6k, they'll be about this size from now on- I couldn't find a place to cut the first chapter into two that would flow properly.


	3. Champion

Traders and tourists parted like the seas before Moses for Kincaid. She held herself with the confidence of someone who had all the power in the world. Gage followed behind her, taking note of anyone who didn’t instantly comply with the Overboss’ wishes.

They were getting closer to the Parlor now, and Gage had anxiety spark through him. What if Mags didn’t like her? What if she was seen as a threat? There were a thousand things that could go wrong, and knowing his terrible luck probably would. He followed Kincaid as she crossed the ruined plaza. To the Operator’s credit, it was far cleaner than any other place in Nuka Town. The buildings were in far better repair, and the streets were mostly clean.

Kincaid walked with her shoulders squared, her head held high like she was thinking of murder. Gage tried to replicate her confidence, but couldn’t help but feel like he fell short. She walked right up to the door, turning to the doorman. To the raider’s credit, he did dip his head a bit.

 

“Boss," he said, looking her up and down. He must have approved because he relaxed slightly. “Usually Mags and William have me frisk visitors, but you get special treatment.” He went to open the door and looked over at Gage, narrowing his eyes. “Porter don’t," he added, standing up straight. Gage let out a huff, handing the man his rifle and his shotgun. They were stashed in a metal case at the guardsman’s feet, and the guard stepped forward.

“That is unnecessary," Kincaid asserted, the guard paused. “To ask him to go into a lion’s den with nothing but a pistol is insult enough," Kincaid said plainly, the guard stepped back.

“Sorry Boss, just- trying to do my job," he explained, crossing his arms over his chest. He shot Porter a dirty look and opened the door for Kincaid. He nodded them in, tipping his hat to Kincaid as she went past. Gage followed behind her, squinting as his eye tried to adjust to the darkness of the parlor.

If anything, Kincaid sure cut a figure in her bright white dress. The operators were dressed more conservatively in their leisure suits and metal armor. While they had grand migraine inducing patterns, they were all dark in nature. It made it easier to clean up the blood stains, easier to keep up the look despite being raiders.

Kincaid was directed to the parlor proper, where a woman was singing some poor excuse for Goodneighbor jazz, swaying around on stage in some little red number. The parlor was an old world dinner theatre, with the little wrought iron tables and artsy looking chairs. It was low light, but even in the partial darkness, Gage could see the light glinting off of operator hardware and armor. It was a nest alright, with raiders packed in like an old can of potted meat. Gage scanned the parlor with a narrowed eye, counting guns. They were outmanned, naturally, and all the raiders wanted to see just who Kincaid was. They swarmed around them and Gage bared his teeth, his hand going for the pistol tucked into his belt.

He felt Kincaid’s hand on his arm and he looked to her. She had a soft smile on her face, and she was so relaxed Gage could have imagined they were off having lunch on some patio. His world narrowed down into just Kincaid, and she ran her thumb over the top of his hand.

“It's going to be ok. Relax," she told him, Gage squaring his shoulders. He nodded and let go of his gun, his eye still locked on her as she looked over the crowd of raiders. He was brought back to the present by Mag’s voice cutting through the air. She ordered her people to part, giving Kincaid and Gage a direct path to the table where she and her brother sat.

Kincaid turned to her, her docile smile turning tense. “Boss, you look lovely," William said as they approached, taking Kincaid’s hand and planting a kiss on her fingers. Gage wanted to shoot the fucker but resisted the urge to reach for his pistol. Kincaid pulled her hand away delicately, giving him a smile that reminded Gage of a snarl.

“Thank you, William I assume?” Kincaid asked, the man nodding. His sister watched them, leaned back in her chair leisurely. “And you must be Mags then," Kincaid asked, Mags giving her a single nod. Before Kincaid could move, Gage stepped beside her. He pulled out the empty chair at the table for Kincaid. She looked surprised for a moment, and then that gentle smile came across her face. “Thank you, Gage," she told him, sitting down delicately.

“I guess chivalry isn’t dead," Mags chuckled and Gage shot her a look. She ignored it, focusing entirely on Kincaid. “I’ll admit boss, after the little show yesterday- I didn’t quite expect,” the woman paused, taking a drag on a cig. “This," she motioned with her free hand to Kincaid, “I expected a rough waster, no manners, no tact.”

Kincaid smiled, folding her hands in her lap. “You’ll find I am full of surprises," she leaned back, smiling at the siblings. She looked like she’d done this song and dance before, playing the game Mags loved so much with ease.

Gage was glad for it. He had little patience for the twin’s games.

After a solid thirty minutes of heavy discussion Gage was more than ready to leave. Mags had grilled Kincaid on everything from the true nature of the parks to her origins. Kincaid was vague on the last one, mentioning only that she hailed from the Mojave. By the end of it, they were doing nothing but small talk, asking about where Kincaid got her clothes and who supplied her makeup.

Kincaid finally stood up, taking a moment to check her skirts were straight. “It has been lovely, but I have two other very important appointments for today. If you’ll graciously excuse me.” Kincaid dipped her head slightly, Mags returning the gesture. William grasped Kincaid’s hand again, pressing another kiss to it.

“Until we meet again," he said softly, Kincaid smiling and pulling her hand away. She said nothing and turned, making her way through the significantly emptier parlor. Gage followed close on her heels, silent until they made it to the doors. They were opened up by a pair of Operators and Gage let out a little grumble as his eye was assaulted by the bright light of the noonday sun.

It was going to be hot as hell.

Kincaid let out a soft laugh and he looked at her, taking a second to marvel over how the light played across her skin. She flashed him a smile and walked forward, looking like she was enjoying the fresh air, relishing it even. Gage snagged his weapons from the Operator guard and jogged after her as she made her way towards the market.

“What’d you think?” Gage asked when they were out of earshot, watching as Kincaid walked. She rubbed her hand absentmindedly, letting out a little sigh before looking at him.

Kincaid smiled all bright. "It went well! Mags and I very much see eye to eye," Kincaid told him, looking over. "Not much for William- but that's alright because it's pretty obvious that Mags is the one who calls the shots," Kincaid shrugged. She moved through the throng of traders and tourists, heading towards the walled off-market. Gage followed beside her, feeling a little better. She had handled Mags with ease, next was likely going to be Mason.

If her behavior in the gauntlet was any indication, Gage did not have to worry about her and Mason. Either they’d get along like wildfire or she’d blow his brains out. That thought made Gage frown. He really needed her not to blow Mason’s brains out, as entertaining as that would be.

They made their way up to the great double doors to the market. Kincaid stared up at them in wonder. Gage spotted Shank, the Raider’s lead informant, leaning against the wall beside them. He gave shank a curt nod and the raider just smiled. Kincaid didn’t seem to notice, though, and stepped through like she was just another tourist.

She stopped in her tracks and gasped as she took in the market. "Oh, this is wonderful!"

Gage shrugged and she chattered at him while walking towards the clusters of colorful tents. Her mood tanked though, the moment she got close enough to the traders The moment she got close enough to see the bomb collars strapped around their necks. Gage watched her as her emotions played so clearly across her face. Shock, disappointment, maybe fear? Kincaid took a moment before standing straight and smiling at him. She looked profoundly uncomfortable but pushed past it as she went perusing among the tents.

Gage followed her around as she shopped, tuning out the conversations with the traders as they, one by one, asked the same damn questions. Was she going to be like Colter? How was she gonna run the parks? Was she was gonna control the raiders?

Gage thought about Kincaid and how she was handling the bosses, and honestly? He could work with this. If Mags felt half as amicable as Kincaid felt, then they were off to a start. All that was needed now was Mason, and he was the easiest to get along with- so long as you could bare your teeth.

Gage turned to a vendor and put down a few caps for some street meat when he heard a scream. He wheeled around and pulled out his shotgun. He should have been paying closer attention, and he was cursing himself as he took stock of the situation.

"Touch me again, and I'll do far more than take your arm," Kincaid snarled, who was holding a pack member's arm in her grasp and twisting it in an unnatural direction. Gage scanned the quickly growing crowd. None of them, even other pack animals, were moving to this runts aid. That was good. A nice little display of power.

"What do we say?" Kincaid asked, her lips pulled taut in a violent smile.

The raider runt gasped. "I'm sorry, missus Overboss, ma’am!"

She twisted a little farther and the raider’s legs buckled underneath him. "AND I WON'T EVER DO IT AGAIN, I SWEAR!"

Kincaid smiled and gave him one good wrench and a snapped arm for his trouble. He scurried away into several of his pack mate's arms. The group stared at her, trying to appear threatening. Kincaid stared back and sneered. The raiders scattered. Gage whistled, impressed.

She was not going to have a problem dealing with Mason.

Kincaid turned to Gage and he realized just how far her mood had fallen. She was rubbing her throat and looking at the market. It dawned on Gage, he probably missed something while he was deep in his own thoughts. Kincaid looked up at him and he offered her some of the street meat he bought. She took it from him, eyes going over to the collared traders of the market.

Kincaid munched on her street meat while shoving ammo into boxes. "Sorry I missed him, Boss- turned and you already had it handled," Gage told her, she waved him off. He took a bite while she finished chewing, Kincaid standing up straight.

"Oh, he just slapped my ass while walking by, was not gonna put up with that shit," Kincaid told Gage, who nodded and flagged some operators over. While he gave them instructions to haul it all up to Fizztop Kincaid wiped her hands clean on a little pink kerchief. "That little runt thought he was being cheeky." She smiled finally, giggling to herself. It took a moment for Gage to get it. He let out a groan and Kincaid laughed, looking at him. "Let's go visit Mason and tell him to keep his dogs on a tighter leash," Kincaid pressed forward as Gage nodded.

They made their way out of the market and up to the amphitheater, the guard at the doors snapping to attention. “Boss-Lady! Mason’s waiting for you! Glad you made it down to visit!” She told Kincaid as she opened up the door.

Kincaid smiled kindly. “Thank you! I’m glad I got to visit as well.”

The Pack guard stared Gage down as he and Kincaid went inside. As Kincaid walked forward the pack guard smiled. Maybe it was a smile. It kind of looked like she was just baring her teeth. Gage wrinkled his nose and looked away from her. He didn’t like that.

He didn’t like that shit at all.

When they entered the Pack's Zoo, Gage hung back by the bleachers and sipped on a bottle of cola, having a look around. The walls were painted in garish colors, splatters everywhere. It was like children had gone insane and were given access to everything toxic and colorful. The Pack animals were clad in the Operator’s refuse, all the stage clothes for fools and madmen. Their pants were furry, their armor was woven out of wicker, and their faces painted in colors bright enough to give Gage a migraine.

Kincaid walked like she belonged to them, like she was one of them. The switch from prim and proper to this could have given Gage whiplash.

He stood by his assessment, though. She was a lot more like a raider then she preferred to believe.

She watched Mason interact with some little pack animal who was fussing over some sort of dispute and gave the man a look that told him to hurry things along.

“Didja have to wait in line to come to see me?” Mason asked the runt, who scampered and whined and admitted he didn’t. Gage crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. Mason had just recently come to power within the last month, tarring and feathering anyone who stood in his way or talked back to him. The last two alpha’s of the pack was nowhere to be found, banished from their ranks into the unforgiving wasteland.

Mason was a brute of a man, standing over six feet tall and built like a damn gorilla. He looked like he could crush a man’s skull with his bare hands. His face was painted to look like a mandril, and above his lip was a handlebar mustache, which was the same shade of almost unnaturally bright orange as his greasy hair. His bright, dirty blue tank top clung to his torso, accentuating his savage physique, and the pink fur pants he wore were stained with mud and blood and god knows what else.

Kincaid watched the simpering pup slink away before approaching Mason. She stepped up on his dias, leaning casually against his throne. He looked up at her curiously as he scratched his crotch.

“You the new boss?” Mason asked. She nodded, not making eye contact.

She was instead gazing out over the crowd of raiders in the amphitheater with her arms crossed over her chest. It was a completely different persona than what Gage had seen in the parlor. This felt more like it suited her, in his opinion. Her gaze fell on him and she gave him a little thumbs up. Gage nodded and pulled out his smokes, lighting up.

“So, Boss-Lady. Tell me about yourself," Mason said, sinking deeper into his throne.

Kincaid looked over her nails. “I’m a courier, I got myself tangled up in this mess. I killed your boss. And now I want you to keep your dogs on a leash.”

That was blunt and to the point. Almost too direct, in Gage’s opinion.

Mason stared at Kincaid. “What did you just say?” he asked incredulously. She turned to him with a hint of a scowl.

“You heard me.”

“Oh, you’re real confident aren’t you? You know you’re in the middle of the wolf den, right?” Mason sneered, looking up at Kincaid. She nodded, looking at her nails.

She ran her tongue across her teeth, making a clicking noise. “When you’ve done the shit I’ve done, little pups like you ain’t shit.”

Gage pulled a long drag on his cig as he watched with growing concern. He’d thought it would be amusing to watch her blow his head off, but he didn’t actually want her to do it. He let out a heavy breath and tapped the ash off of his cig as the two of them went back and forth. Mason was bragging about Pack kills, and Kincaid was dismissing it and snapping right back with her own achievements. Back and forth, over and over again. It started to get more heated as Mason got angrier and angrier. She wasn’t affording him the respect he “deserved as the Alpha”, in his own words. Gage rolled his eye and took a drag. She was able to keep up with him at least. Now he needed it to not escalate.

“Alpha? Hah, that's precious," she sneered, her lips pulling tight against her sharp teeth. “You’d struggle to pour water out of a boot with the instructions on the heel.” Mason shot up out of his throne and got in her face. She bared her teeth and squared her shoulders. Mason did the same.

Fuck.

“That so waster!?” he snarled. She wiped the spit off her face but kept her eyes fixed on him. Gage had to fight the urge to bust out laughing when he then saw Kincaid grab Mason by the crotch and squeeze, making the wall of a man make the most pathetic squeak.

“Back off, or I’ll castrate you like the dog you are," Kincaid growled, giving Mason’s manhood another tight squeeze. The entire theatre was silent, and every raider there was gathering to watch the two of them. Gage tossed his cigarette butt to the ground and ground it out, crossing his arms.

 

“Woah, boss. I don’t mean no disrespect," Mason backpedaled, swallowing tightly. “You ain’t wanna do that in front of my boys. Y-you don’t need a power struggle to break out right now.”

Kincaid got this crazy glint in her eyes Gage was very much not fond of.

“Maybe I want one," she hissed, getting real close to Mason. “Maybe if you can’t keep your boys under control, I need to step in. I am the Overboss, after all.”

Kincaid licked her lips, testing her grip again. Mason put a hand on her shoulder, doubling over slightly more. She let go and he backed up. She stepped forward, not letting him grow any distance between himself and her.

“You’ll get respect when you earn respect, Mason," Kincaid growled, getting louder. “And you seem to forget I blew Colter into next Wednesday after fighting tooth and nail through the Disciples’ little fun house. I ain’t someone to fuck with. You best remember that when you grumble about respect and loyalty.”

Her demeanor shifted, though her eyes stayed sharp. “Now that we’ve had our dick measuring contest, how about we talk about the real problems here and actually get some shit done?” she asked, sounding sticky sweet. Gage relaxed slightly, letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding as the tension seemed to drop for now.

“Yeah, sure, Boss-Lady. Uh, here, or in private?” Mason asked. Kincaid smiled.

“Here will do just fine.”

Gage pushed off the wall. She definitely had this handled, and he was getting hungry again. He made his way to the pack’s little market place, keeping half an ear on Mason and Kincaid’s discussion. It was loud enough so that he could follow it even over the raiders milling about. He tossed some caps on the counter and a trader handed him some sort of meat in a plastic cup.

Gage pulled out his boot knife and skewered a piece. He lifted it to his nose and sniffed it cautiously. It smelled weird, gamey. He took a bite and frowned. As he chewed, a bony looking hound came up and started pawing at his leg. Gage looked down at the mangy thing and raised an eyebrow at its fussing.

“What?” he asked, shaking his leg to get it to stop. His leather pants were in bad enough condition as it was. He didn’t need this little bastard to rip them up further. “What do you want?”

The dog sat down and let out a pathetic whine. The kind that started out loud and broke off into fussy little cries. Gage made a face before looking back at the mystery meat in a cup. He hesitated for a moment and grumbled before flicking a piece out with his knife. The dog snatched it right out of the air before getting up and bouncing all around his legs.

Gage chuckled softly as he held his knife in his teeth to give the dog a scratch behind the ears with is now freed hand. “That’s it. I ain’t sharin’ no more, or I’ll end up lookin’ like you.”

Kincaid’s assessment that morning waltzed into his brain and he frowned.

He flicked out another piece of meat and the dog caught it again. He ended up sharing half of his meal out of pity. That’s it. He pitied the mongrel. He didn’t relate, not at all.

When the cup was empty, he tossed it down. The dog grabbed it and ran off with it, barking excitedly as it scampered away. He chuckled at its antics as he wiped his knife clean on his shirt.

“You’re such a big mean raider.”

Kincaid’s voice sent a shiver up his spine. He turned to her and she smiled like the cat that caught the canary. Gage relaxed and looked towards where the dog had run off to.

“It looked hungry," he shrugged. Kincaid laughed softly and patted his arm. He looked back to her and sighed. “You ready to go deal with Nuka-Town’s resident psychopaths?”

The walk back to Fizztop was less than enjoyable in the sweltering heat, and Gage tried to keep Kincaid to the shadows. She didn’t seem any worse for wear though and just walked like she was used to the melting heat. Gage could see the heat rise off of the cobbled pavement, and his mouth was starting to get dry.

She led him around the giant dirty pond, which already had Operators milling about and cleaning up refuse. They were throwing rubble out of the water and cleaning the footpath used to get to Fizztop. The Disciples didn’t seem to happy about it, but fuck them. Gage paused to watch, a small smile coming to his face. It was going to be nice to see everything cleared.

They rounded the pond and Gage covered his face with his hand as he tried not to gag. The stench of death and rot was cloying. It clung to everything it could reach. Nothing quite smelled like dead bodies roasting in the afternoon heat. Kincaid turned to him and made a face.

“Is it always like this?” she asked. Gage nodded and she made a soft little noise of disappointment. She pulled out that little pink handkerchief and covered her face with it before picking her path around the dismembered corpses leading up the Disciple’s den.

They passed many disciples on their way. Kincaid kept her face as stoic as possible as they passed. The raiders jeered and verbally threatened her, but she remained steady. So far, so good. She must be used to negative attention. He led her up to a set of double doors. A disciple stood beside them.

“The Boss is here to see Nisha," Gage proclaimed. The Disciple sneered at him.

“We don’t answer to you," the woman snarled. Kincaid stepped forward.

“But you will answer to me," she growled. The Disciple snapped her attention to her but made no move to open the doors. Kincaid took a step forward

“Don’t make me open those doors on my own, you’ll regret it," Kincaid hissed. The Disciple crossed her arms.

“Sure thing, Boss,” she said icily as she opened the doors for the two of them. “Watch yourself, because we sure will be.”

The last time Gage stepped through these doors, Nisha had grabbed him in the middle of the night. She’d pressed a knife to his kidney and pulled him into the depths to show him an example of why one shouldn’t disappoint her. Gage swallowed hard before stepping through and following Kincaid.

He wasn’t going to make her face this hell hole on her own.

The Disciple den in the mountain smelled like a rotting corpse, rotten through with maggots crawling all over. Raiders were perched on every conceivable overhang, jeering at them as he and Kincaid made their way towards the center. There, at the base of the mountain’s scaffolding, stood Nisha. On either side, she was flanked by her seconds. On her left stood Dixie, a Tennessee blond with a penchant for the sadistic. On her right stood Savoy, a lithe man who knew his way around human anatomy better than most doctors. All of the disciples wore great metal masks, each one unique. Beyond that? They were clad in leathers and cloth, all dyed black to blend best with the shadows.

Nisha rolled her shoulders and took a step forward. “We don’t generally let mongrels into our home,” she drawled in an almost sultry tone. “The dog can go wait outside.”

Kincaid looked back at Gage, and then at Nisha.

Confusion flit across Kincaid’s features for a moment before she tilted her head. “No.”

Nisha looked taken back for a moment before her composure returned. Her lips pulled into a thin line.

Kincaid pressed on with growing confidence. “I want him here, and you haven’t earned the privilege of making demands of me.”

Gage kept close to Kincaid and tried to steady his breathing. Nisha could be reasonable, he knew that. He also couldn’t stop the terror that was clawing up his spine. The ghostly reminders of skin being peeled back and organs spilling out of screaming victims.

Nisha’s gaze locked on him, or at least he thought it did considering her mask, turned towards him.

“Gage,” she said sternly. “I don’t want you here.”

That did it. He couldn’t stop the wave of panic that washed over him like a tsunami. He locked up and stared fearfully at that blank metal mask, a cold hunk of anxiety, deep in his guts, forming like a cannonball.

He wanted to run. He wanted to escape, get out, never look back, and never have to deal with Nisha or the disciples or any of these crazy fuckers ever again. It would be so easy. Just turn, run and just keep going until he was out of the park, and on the road to the Commonwealth. He could make it to Bunker Hill on foot, hop a caravan, and go to Ronto. The weather was nice up there this time of year. Or, Hell, he could take a page out of Kincaid’s book and head to the Mojave. See what there was to see in Vegas, or New Reno, or literally any other place than the inside of this godforsaken cesspit of human depravity.

His mind came to a complete stop as his thoughts rounded back to Kincaid.

Kincaid needed him here. He got her into this mess. She shouldn’t have to face someone like Nisha on her own.

He looked from Nisha to Kincaid, who had her eyes fixed on him. She looked worried for a moment like she’d pieced something together in her head. Gage swallowed hard and dug around in his pockets for a moment before pulling out his cigs and tapping the last one out.

“Sorry, Nisha. Can’t do that," he said as he stuck the cig to his lips and lit it. He took a long drag, trying to steady his nerves. Nisha’s mouth pulled into a thin line.

“Of course. Loyal to the Overboss until the end?” she asked icily, taking a step forward. “No matter. Your presence is irrelevant, anyway.”

Nisha turned to Kincaid and looked her over like a hawk. Or a cat circling a mouse with no legs. Kincaid squared her shoulders and kept track of Nisha.

“Realign the spine, Gage," Kincaid said as Nisha circled her. Gage tilted his head in confusion, his cig hanging limply.

“Straighten up,” Kincaid ordered. “We have an image to keep.”

Gage stood up straight and Nisha sneered.

“Not going to play his puppet?” she asked, tapping her fingers idly on her other arm. “I would have figured he’d selected you to be easily manipulated. Dolled you up to make you look real nice for Mags.”

“Oh no,” Kincaid growled. “I dolled myself up, sweetie.”

She stared Nisha down indignantly. “I prefer clean and proper to wallowing around in my own mess," Kincaid snapped, crossing her arms.

“Now let’s get this meet and greet over with. I’m Kincaid, The new Overboss. You can get with the program like Mags and Mason, or you can get your ass out of my park.”

The tension in the air was so thick you could slice it with a knife. Gage felt like he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak. The two women were glaring each other down. One of Kincaid’s hands neared her hip like she was ready to pull the gun from her skirts.

“You always this blunt?” Nisha asked, stepping closer to Kincaid and running a hand up her arm. Kincaid tensed, but her face remained steady. Nisha smiled, baring her teeth.

“There’s no need to be. I can be reasonable," she cooed, pushing her mask up slightly so Kincaid could see those steel grey eyes. “You see, I’d pegged you for his plaything.”

Her fingers did circles on Kincaid’s exposed skin, feather light touches that raised goosebumps on Kincaid’s arms.

“A pretty little marionette on strings so that he-” she fixed Gage with a glare, making him take an involuntary step back. “-could get his work done without getting his hands dirty.”

Kincaid frowned but said nothing.

“Now you have to understand, Boss. The last asshole he put up let it go to his head. You have to understand why I’d be wary of Porter Gage’s next bright idea.”

Nisha’s fingers stopped, and she patted Kincaid’s arm gently.

“I am no one’s plaything," Kincaid growled lowly, snatching her arm away. Nisha smiled and Gage’s guts twisted. He hated that smile so much.

“I like just how assertive you are," Nisha said sarcastically, crossing her arms and tilting her head. “You’re obviously a step above the standard waster. You know what you want, and you’re going to get it. We have that in common.”

She chuckled lowly, letting out a soft sigh.

“I want the parks, power, and a place where I can do what I want, when I want, however the fuck I want," Nisha said plainly. Dixie chittered beside her as savoy nodded. “Now, Boss, you’ve met the others, obviously. So you can tell their gangs are child’s play compared to the Disciples. They’re soft, they’re weak. They’re fucking useless beyond basic fodder.”

She turned to glance at Gage. “This one, in particular, isn’t worth much of anything, if you ask me. All he does is make sure no one is holding out on their shares. Even then, it’s just to make sure he gets his money. He couldn’t give a damn about you, as long as you’re getting him what he needs.”

Kincaid went tense, her hands balled up into fists.

Nisha seemed to take note of her reaction and continued. “All he wants out of you is someone to take the bullet when his plans go sour.”

Nisha waved her hand dismissively. “There’s a reason we’re the only gang you should back. You take care of us, and we’ll take care of you. The Disciples are loyal. We’re a family.”

“So,” Kincaid said after a moment, letting her disgust show plainly across her face. “You think that you and your little ‘family’ is worth more than the Operators and the Pack?”

She laughed coldly, making Gage shudder. “The Pack have their animals. They can sell them and the by-products, or make stupid amounts of cash with that arena they have in the amphitheater. They’re strong and make good, loyal guard dogs. The Operators are traders by nature. They sell shit, they invent, they scavv, they scam shit-tons of money out of people. They make mad caps and make sure order is kept in the process. What the fuck do you do?”

Kincaid glared at Nisha angrily and her teeth pulled into an almost animalistic smile. “You wanna know what you all do? You and the Disciples? They sit in a pile of their own fucking stink, bathing in old blood and rotting carcasses, doin’ shit all to provide to the park. Yet anything you do as a whole that the other two can do just as well if not better, babe.”

She took a step closer to Nisha and her gaze grew cold once again. “Yet you want me to drop those other two so you can take over the park for yourself? Because you and your freaky family are worth so much more?”

Kincaid chuckled. “Y'all aren’t worth shit to me. All you do is kill. Anybody in this fucking park can do that.”

Nisha blinked slowly before her face contorted into a cold smile. Gage flicked his gaze between the two of them as his anxiety reached a new high. This was insane - Nisha wasn’t gonna take that kinda shit. He knew that from experience.

“Oh, of course, anyone could kill in this park, love," Nisha began softly. “But can just anyone rule over the park at your side with an iron fist like ours?”

“Of course, You could just back him,” Nisha cooed, jerking her head over to Gage. “And the Disciples could bring the mountain down on your pretty little head.”

“Is that a fucking threat?” Kincaid snarled.

“It’s a promise," Nisha said, her voice just above a whisper. She straightened up and rested a finger on her chin thoughtfully before continuing. “Or, you could have us. You could lead a reign of terror the Commonwealth hasn’t seen in decades, and we would all be loyal to you. Why would you need animals and scams when you could just have us take whatever we, and by extension, you, wanted? And got rid of those who might oppose us by wiping them out before they became a problem?”

Her smile widened. “It would certainly keep things simple, would it not?”

Kincaid’s eyes remained unblinkingly locked on Nisha’s, but said nothing. After a moment that felt like years to Gage, she finally spoke.

“Why don’t I come back to y’all on that?” Kincaid said tensely. Gage could tell she was trying to control her anger.

“Of course you can, my dear,” Nisha murmured as she leisurely leaned back against the railing of the scaffolding. “Take all the time you need, Boss. I’m sure you’ll come crawling back to us when you realize just how useful we are.”

“Oh, I am sure I will," Kincaid muttered through gritted teeth as she and Gage turned to leave. The Disciple that let them in watched as they left, but said nothing to them. They moved quickly to escape the stench that surrounded the place. The sun was just beginning to set, casting Fizztop Mountain and the buildings surrounding it in a soft, golden glow. Kincaid was silent, and Gage almost had to jog to keep by her side.

He had to admit - he was impressed at what went down in there. It went a lot better than he was expecting, though he could tell by the face Kincaid was making, it took a toll on her.

The hustle and bustle around Nuka-Town began to pick up as raiders began to leave the safety of the cool shade. Some were sitting around radios, listening to RedEye babble while they sipped on Nuka-Cola. Others just wandered about the streets, harassing members of different gang members or enjoying the company of their own.

As soon as the pair got out of earshot of the Disciples’ den, Kincaid wheeled around and faced Gage, who stumbled backward slightly.

"Who the fuck does that cunt think she is?" She roared. “Who the fuck- like, honestly! She goes and fucks with me and shits all over you like you didn't just save these parks from burning like a fucking pyre.”

“I don't see her ass doing shit to make things work! Fuckin’ needs to get herself in line!" Kincaid snarled, dipping down and picking up a rock. She hurled it into the pond, startling the operator who was fishing around for loot in the murky water. "Mark my words Gage! I won't give her one CENTIMETER of any of these goddamn parks!"

Gage took a step back. His voice caught in his throat, his heart was racing, his breathing quick- too many memories of Colter flooding him all at once as she bore down on him. She turned, growling and stomping off towards the lift.

Gage kept still, eyes wide. It took him a minute more before he went running to catch up. His hands were shaking as she walked, her baleful gaze fixed ahead as young raiders scrambled out of her path.

She made it to the lift and punched the button before straightening up. She sucked in a breath and then closed her eyes as she slowly exhaled. She then opened her eyes and looked at Gage worriedly.

“Oh, Gage, I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that," she told him, turning to him as they waited for the lift to come down. Gage paused, swallowing down his anxiety.

“It’s, uh, it’s fine, boss," he told her in a low voice, licking his lips and fidgeting with his lighter. He was out of cigs now, least until he got back to the patio. He had some stashed away in one of the host podiums if he remembered right

Kincaid looked over at him, frowning. “It’s not fine. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.” She looked away, shaking her head. “She just makes me so fucking angry.”

Kincaid’s hands were clenched at her sides, shaking ever so slightly.

“But I’m not mad at you. Not at all. You don’t deserve that," she reassured him softly. It seemed like she was saying it to herself just as much as she was saying it to him, though he kept his mouth shut

Gage stepped onto the lift and waited for Kincaid to move next to him. When she got on, he hit the button and they were pulled into the air.

They had gotten a lot done today, and honestly, two out of three was not a bad ratio. If the Disciples tried to make good on their threat, they were going to be fucking annihilated. Gage tapped on his rifle as he thought through all the possible scenarios and statistics. Each gang only had so many raiders, and there were always the drifters like himself who were loyal only to the Overboss. Nisha and her crew wouldn’t stand a chance in an open assault, though an assassination wouldn’t be out of the question. It was more important than ever to keep those doors locked when they were out.

"Do you ever stop, Gage? You're always thinking," Kincaid tapped his arm and he paused, looking at her. She smiled, tilting her head like she was innocent. Kincaid looked him up and down, motioning to his hand that was tapping on the stock of his gun. Gage looked down, pulling his hand away and pulling out his pack of cigs. He was out. He knew this. He still checked, anyway, out of force of habit. When Kincaid saw that he had gone through his pack, she pulled a box out from her sash.

“Here," she said softly, offering them. “You can have them, I don’t smoke that much, anyway.”

Gage stared at the box in her hand, then looked up at her. She motioned with them and he took the box gently. “Thanks.”

"I, uh, I got a lot to think about," he told her quietly, she nodded. He lit a cig and offered one to her. She slipped it between her lips and he lit it for her, finding himself watching her lips.

Oh no.

He turned away from her and let the smoke flow from his nose. He needed to get himself sorted and fast. This was not going to work if she was going to stay as the Overboss.

"I don't think I want this job, Gage."

Gage’s thoughts came to a screeching stop.

Gage's cig hung limply in his mouth as the elevator ground to a halt. "That so?" He asked, looking over at her as they stepped off the lift and walked into Fizztop. She sat down on the hideous red couch and leaned her head back.

"I'm not a raider. I don't think or act like one. And I sure as hell don't have the same taste for blood," Kincaid murmured. She bit her lip and winced as she looked and saw his face.

She looked back up at the ceiling. "Talking to them all, Gage. I don't think I have the expertise you need to keep this shit on lock,” she said, gesturing with her hands. “I don't think I can help you even if I wanted to."

He tapped his foot in thought. She covered her face with her hands.

"I mean- look at Nisha!” She shouted. “I hate her! I fucking hate her so much!"

She pulled her hands down her face and smeared her makeup.

Gage sighed. She looked scared, legitimately scared. Like she was going to cry. Gage pinched the bridge of his nose and took another long drag on his cig as he pondered.

The silence was deafening.

Finally, Gage blew out some smoke from his nose and spoke.

"We don't need a raider to lead us. We just need someone who can get shit done," he told her, sitting down on a chair opposite of her. She looked at him, raising a brow.

"Look, you're a mercenary, right?" he asked. She nodded and he took a drag on his cig. He took a measured breath.

"What if I hired you?” he asked. Ash from his cigarette fell on the ruined tiles below as he motioned with his hands. “All you gotta do is get us the parks, and I can figure it out from there. The gangs won't be so crowded and it won't be so much of a ticking bomb."

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees as he thought. "It'll take what? A month, maybe two?" He asked. She watched him, silent.

"You can get crazy rich, cut out the moment the gangs are happy," Gage proposed, taking another drag on his cig.

Kincaid rubbed the back of her neck and closed her eyes. She stood up and Gage watched her as she paced for a minute. She hummed and looked at him.

"That doesn't sound awful," she told him, taking a drag on her own cig. She looked at him with a small smile and he felt a weird weight settle in his guts. He shook it off and looked away from Kincaid, and instead out at the parks. She shifted her weight back and forth before going and sitting down in front of him.

"A month doesn't sound that bad,” she said again. “We could do this and then I can go on my merry way, yeah?"

He nodded and looked back at her.

"Ok. Ok!" She said, holding her hand out for him to shake. He raised a brow and she smiled at him again. He took it and they shook hands.

After removing his armor, Gage settled into the chair and let out a breath. Kincaid got up and made her way into the grille. He was happy, he had someone to get the parks, food in his stomach, and a few fresh packs of cigs.

This could be good.

It didn’t take long for her to come out with some sandwiches on a plate. She’d wiped off her makeup, and was now in a tank top and jeans. She set the plate down on the coffee table in front of him and sat down.

“We’ll start tomorrow. Ed-e will be back tonight and I’ll have some intel on what we got," Kincaid told him as she plopped down in her seat. “We got something to make the walk shorter?”

“Uh, yeah. I think the pack as some ATVs you could probably take," he said, looking up at her as he took a bite of his sandwich. It looked like he was gonna be eating good as long as she was around, and he wasn’t bothered by that in the slightest. Kincaid was fucking around on her Pip-Boy, putting in notes from some paper map she had found inside the grille.

“Okay, so, we’ll scope out the parks first, see what’s going on-“ She started, taking a pen and writing notes on the map. “Once we have an idea of what’s keeping us out of each park, we can pick one to start with.”

She pushed her curls back with her hand. He leaned forward, setting his plate aside.

“Pretty sure it’s mirelurks in the bottling plant- least that’s what Shank told me," Gage took the pen and wrote that down on the map. Kincaid nodded and put it in her notes.

“And Kiddie Kingdom is full of rads. Sprayers go nonstop and burn pretty well anyone inside," he said as he tapped on the map. “And I’m pretty sure Dry Rock Gulch is full of bloodworms.”

“Full of what now?” She asked, he looked at her and chuckled.

“Bloodworms, Boss. Nasty fucks about as thick as my leg. There’s a mouth on either end and each of ‘em got a taste for flesh. Pop right out of the ground.” He made a motion with his hands and Kincaid looked disgusted.

She went back to taking notes, Gage marked down parking lots. “And the parking lots- here and here- both are apparently deathclaw nests. We should steer clear until we have some backing from the gangs.”

“Because, of-fucking-course, they won’t lift a finger," she grumbled, looking at the map. Gage laughed and shook his head before picking back up his plate.

“Nah, Boss. Not till we’re a park or two in. Gotta prove you mean business," he told her.

He leaned back, scratching his neck. “Galactic Zone had a ton of traders in it when we first took over. They had robots that made it hard to get in so Colter gave up. Might be a good place to start, if you want something easy.”

Gage watched her put that down with a small smile. He appreciated how much she actually considered his advice. It was nice actually, hashing it out. Felt like progress.

“So, tomorrow, we’ll take a couple of ATVs, and scout out the east parks and that town on the upper east side," Kincaid told him. Gage nodded. “And once that’s done, we can scout out the west side and see what the local crazies are about.”

She tapped on the map in the rough area of the Hubologists.

“Who told you about them?” he asked, leaning forward and looking at her notes.

“Some Operator in the market. They said not to bother, but if they got resources, it’s worth taking a look into opening trade," Kincaid told him.

He nodded and got up. He could feel her eyes follow him as he grabbed a pen and pad from the bar. He came back over and sat down before swinging his legs up and resting his feet on the coffee table. He wrote some of her notes down and she sat back, watching him. He ignored it at first and worked on copying down her ideas.

“What do you want?” He asked after a while. He started to feel unnerved by her motionless gaze. She tilted her head and he squirmed a little, removing his feet from the coffee table.

“A cap for your thoughts, Gage?” She asked.

Gage looked down at his notes thoughtfully before looking back up at her and shrugging. “I think it’s a solid start. We might want to wait until we have more firepower for places like the bottling plant and the parking lots. And I’ll need to order in some RadAway and Rad-X for Kiddie Kingdom. Depending on how well this goes, I’ll be factoring in your ten percent at the end of the week, which the gangs aren’t going to be happy about.”

He tapped his pen, looking back at his pad. “And I think we might be able to rally up some of the younger members of the gangs if we need backup for Galactic Zone. It’s close enough so that they won’t be missed and we can easily promise some glory and shit.”

He stuck the pen in his mouth while he idly scratched an itch on his shoulder. “Once we have one or two parks, the gangs should be more amicable to giving you manpower. I don’t suggest giving out the parks right away, though, because we don’t know what each zone has as far as resources.”

Gage looked at his pad, tapping again. She nodded and put his council into her Pip-Boy.

“And if we shaft anyone, it’s going to cause problems later," she said. He nodded and jotted down some ideas for splitting things up.

“We can check out Bradburton and see if it would be a viable territory? Make shit even," Kincaid suggested. Gage nodded and wrote that down, too.

“It’s worth a shot. Might have good scrap and what not," she murmured, finally taking a bite of her sandwich.

They kept going back and forth like this for a few hours before Gage had to call it a night. He put down his notepad and rubbed his face. Kincaid watched intently as he removed his eyepatch. Gage looked up at her. Her eyes scanned over the ruined eye socket quickly, and he kept her stare.

“I don’t know what I expected," she said, shrugging. Gage rolled his eye.

“Look, you got the whole mysterious air about you with the patch and shit,” she mumbled defensively as she kicked off her boots. “Like, ‘I had a troubled youth’ and shit.”

Gage stood up and stretched, only pausing when he noticed she was watching him again.

”Like…” she started, her voice trailing off. “You don’t sound like people from the ‘Wealth. Don’t act like it either.”

“Though I have more experience in the Mojave,” she said as she pulled off her shirt, “you sure as hell aren't like any raider I’ve ever met.”

“You meet a lot of raiders you don’t kill on sight, boss?” He asked, turning to her as he made his way to his room. She was sitting on the stairs, elbows on her knees. She laughed softly, the sound following him into the lobby of the grille.

“Goodnight, Gage," She called after him. He stopped and looked back as the door closed. He rubbed his face and shook his head, stumbling towards the little area he called his own. He walked up to his bed, stripped out of his shirt and boots, laid down, and tried to sleep.

Tried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2's rewrite got very out of hand. 7k out of hand.


	4. Down The Road

The morning went without incident. Hell, they almost fell into a routine. He woke up to Kincaid cooking. She slapped a plate down in front of him and ate while she fucked around on her Pip-Boy. She asked questions about the parks. He answered to the best of his ability. As they went to the elevator her eye-bot booted on and made its way with them. With a beep and a press of a button, they were on their way. 

Their first order of business was to get ATVs from the Pack. 

When Kincaid went in, Gage was half expecting a fight, something, anything from Mason. The man had been shown up in front of damn near every member of The Pack, and last Gage checked “alphas” didn’t do so well when they were undermined. 

It wasn’t the case though. Mason and Kincaid were amicable- downright friendly, even. Fucking bizarre. She slapped him on the back and Mason punched her shoulder. They both yelled at each other until they fell into a fit of laughter. Gage was confused but pleasantly surprised. 

Kincaid knew how to drive. Or so she said. 

Gage was not so sure as he clung to her back and scrunched his eye shut. 

Kiddie Kingdom was the first park they explored. They kept to the outskirts and did surveillance via binoculars and eye-bot. The problem was when Kincaid decided that taking potshots at the ferals was a good idea. It wasn’t. Gage told her that. Ed-e told her that. She still fired off a shot and was surprised when two hundred or more ghouls came flowing out of the dilapidated park like a swarm.

The two of them scrambled over each other as they tried to get to the ATVs and the eye-bot beeped frantically and zoomed away. Gage turned the keys on his ATV and started to panic. It coughed and sputtered as the engine stalled. Gage turned and saw the ghouls start to crest the hill. 

Dead before they’d even taken a park. Lovely. Just how he wanted to die. He always imagined being torn apart by feral not humans, piece by piece. It was a favorite fantasy of his, honestly. 

Right up there with Nisha skinning him. 

“That is a lot of feral ghouls!” Kincaid shouted, her engine coming on the first try. 

“YEAH!” Gage growled, kicking the tire of the ATV. Kincaid pulled up beside him and grabbed his arm before yanking him in the least dignified way up onto her ATV. He scrambled for purchase as she pulled away and left the ferals in the dust. Gage got his leg over the seat and clung to her back like a scared child and tucked his face into his arm to block the dirt and debris that was kicked up by her wild turns. 

The ATV careened to the left and she let out a peal of howling laughter as she turned to see the shambling horde that was still trying to catch up to them. 

“Hold on, Gage!” she shouted. Gage looking up as she hit a small hill. His stomach hit his throat as they leaped into the air. It was like time started to stand still, giving Gage all the time in the world to reflect on every stupid ass decision he had ever made in his life. Before he could really think on his past mistakes, they hit the ground and his lower jaw clattered into his skull. He was sure he felt his brains get shaken loose. He pressed his forehead to Kincaid’s back and tried to drown out nausea that bubbled up into his throat. 

Kincaid whirled into a parking lot. The ATV did a half circle before finally coming to a stop. 

As soon as the ATV stopped moving, Gage was off of it and emptying the contents of his stomach onto the pavement. Out came breakfast and part of the dinner from the night before, and he felt like he was going to lose every damn meal he’d ever eaten. 

Kincaid gave him a hearty thump on his back, causing him to careen forward slightly. 

“Look alive, Gage. We got more company!” she warned as she held her rifle aloft and tracked a target far down the road. Gage looked up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He spotted several shambling ghouls, weaving in and out of the ruins they had found themselves in. 

Bradburton was the name of the town in pre-war days if his memory served him well. It was an old town, from the looks of it. There were ruined houses and shops alike scattered across the area, and rusted out old cars, long since broken down and unmoving, on the ancient roads that wound about the place. It was almost entirely silent, save for the ferals. 

The ghouls here were not nearly so robust as the ones that swarmed out of Kiddie Kingdom. These ones looked starved and like a strong breeze could knock them over. Gage stood up all the way and looked to Kincaid, who was setting up her big rifle, ‘Snipey Pete’. Gage would never call it that. Not in a thousand years, not even if Nisha tortured him and said his only way to freedom was to call that stupid rifle ‘Snipey Pete’.

He wasn’t about to call the gauss rifle ‘Zappy Tom’, either.

Gage dug around in his rucksack and pulled out six mines and started fiddling with them. The parking lot she had stopped in had a nice little bottleneck between two buildings, and the ghouls were on the other side.

 

“Hold on, boss.” Gage lifted the mines as Kincaid looked over. She gave him a nod and Gage moved to set up the proximity mines all around the road leading out of the parking lot. He kept his attention on the ghouls in the distance and made sure he didn’t alert them too early. It was nice having her actually listen to him instead of charge headlong into danger like other bosses. 

He was sure it was going to be short-lived, but he could enjoy it while it lasted. 

When he was done, he jogged back to Kincaid and gave her the go ahead. She nodded and knelt down, resting her bipod on a piece of fallen rubble. Gage held his breath as she aimed and looked down his binoculars to the ghouls ahead.

He heard her whisper.

“Three. Two. One. Bang.”

The crack of the rifle startled him, even if he expected it. The ghoul’s head blew off and the body fell, like a sack of potatoes. More ghouls swarmed out of the building to investigate the noise. They surrounded the fallen ghoul before their bead eyes looked down the road towards Gage and Kincaid. 

Gage would never be okay with how unnaturally the ghouls moved with their jerking limbs and stuttering forms. Gage braced himself and readied his rifle, content to wait until the ghouls made their way close enough to shoot. Kincaid kept taking potshots in the meantime. She picked off ghoul after ghoul, but with each one she felled, two more took its place. 

Gage ducked down behind the rubble as the first of the ghouls hit his minefield. 

An arm arced over them and Gage watched it fly, splatter, and twitch on the pavement. Laughter bubbled up from Gage as he twisted to peek over his cover. The first wave of ghouls blew themselves to pieces, and now the second wave that was drawn by the explosions were coming. He clutched his rifle close and prepared to fire, taking a steadying breath. 

Kincaid moved beside him, letting her rifle hang from the straps. Gage paused as he stared up at her. She was haloed in the sunlight with a grenade in each hand. The wind hit her hair and blew the stray strands back as she let out a heavy breath. The way the light filtered through the pink curls stole the breath from his lungs. For a moment, it was like he would die for her. Hell, it was like he’d live for her. He knew nothing about her- but for a moment, he loved her. 

His reverie was interrupted by the gurgle of ghouls. Back to the present. She was his boss, he was her lackey, they were fighting ghouls and she was cackling like a mad woman who should have never gotten access to explosives.

Limbs went flying as explosions racked the street and Kincaid’s cackling laughter echoed as the ghouls flew in every direction. Gage flinched as he was splattered with off-colored blood and viscera.

“Boss?” Gage asked as Kincaid hauled up her shotgun. With a single smooth motion, she slammed a needle into her thigh, Gage watching her discard the used vial of psycho. She waited until the ghouls were close enough to feel their hot breath, close enough to bite her nose off. She blasted the ghoul back and stepped over the rubble they were using for cover. Gage watched as she made her way up the street, blowing up ghouls that hadn't died in the initial blasts. 

She bounced like she was moving to some unheard soundtrack. No, it was her radio, Gage realized, as he watched her rhythmic movement. Her little eye-bot beeped frantically, bobbing around behind her as Kincaid moved from connection to connection, mowing down ghouls and moving to the next effortlessly. It was astounding. You wouldn't even know she had doped up on the worst shit. There was no jerking movements or shaking hands. It looked like pure confidence and skill. Didn't mean the crash wasn't coming soon, though. Kincaid twirled her shotgun and Gage frowned. 

"Gage, toss me my bat!" she shouted.

He ran back to the ATV and pulled her bright pink bat off of it before running back to her. He lifted his handmade rifle in his other hand and tossed her the bat. She holstered her shotgun just before she caught it and began moving through the streets, humming and looking for more feral ghouls. They moved in unison, and Gage was pleasantly surprised to find she moved to cover his blind spot without prompting.

A ghoul came around his side, and he blew the head off with a short burst. She cackled, and he looked over. She was splattered with viscera and was slamming her barbed wire wrapped bat into a ghoul's head. It was long dead, but she didn't stop. He walked up and tapped her shoulder with the back of his hand. She wheeled around he took a step back at her unblinking gaze. Her pupils were blown, her breathing ragged.

He grimaced. This could go wrong in so many ways. Her head snapped towards another ghoul that was shoving itself up. She charged over and beat the poor thing so silly, he almost had pity for it.

Almost.

They continued onward in unison, killing whatever ghouls were left in town with relative ease and a copious amount of explosives. As they continued, Gage began to notice Kincaid slowing down, a sign of the psycho wearing off he wagered. 

After it was all finally cleared of the ghouls, they took a couple of hours to clear buildings and take note of resources, and by the end, his notepad was covered in inventory and fortification ideas. Kincaid’s eyes were glassed over and she looked rather fatigued as they discussed plans. She leaned against Gage heavily, and he did his best to support her weight, but damn, she was heavier than she looked. 

Gage heard a beep behind him and turned, spotting ed-e coming down the road. The robot was beeping frantically and practically vibrated with energy. Kincaid lazily looked over her shoulder. She smiled at the bot before calling out to it. Gage winced at the sound of her voice as he unceremoniously dumped her onto a public bench. 

“You done?” Gage asked as he hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. Kincaid smiled up at him as ed-e shrieked and bobbed around behind him. 

“Ed-E, relax,” Kincaid murmured with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I just took one dose, and it wasn’t even a whole fuckin’ one.” 

Gage frowned.

He was on the bot’s side, honestly, even if he didn't know exactly what the robot was saying. Gage let out a sigh and his lips curled up in distaste as he listened to her make excuses to the angry eye-bot. It went on, and on, and Gage got more and more impatient. 

“Boss, are you done?” Gage asked again, nudging her leg. Kincaid rolled her eyes and smiled up at Gage.

“Yeah. I’m good,” she said with a smirk. She dug around in her pockets and pulled out a pack of cigs before slipping one into her mouth and lighting it. She took a very long drag before blowing the smoke at Gage. 

“Why so sour, Gage? I’m brutal and effective. Exactly what you’re payin’ for,” Kincaid said smugly. Gage huffed and shook his head as he pulled out his own pack of cigs. 

 

Effective, yes. But she was blitzed, and still coming off of the psycho. She’d been skinned. 

“Boss, this is how you die,” Gage said, exasperated. He gestured with his hands as he spoke. “If Nisha found you like this, you’d be dead.” 

"Don't you worry what that shit’s gonna do to you?" Gage asked in disdain. He looked back to her as she puffed on her cig. Kincaid looked up at him, quirking a brow. She tilted her head and he shoved his notepad back into his back pocket. The bot beeped in agreement, and Gage looked back at Kincaid triumphantly as he stamped out the butt of his now spent cig. See? The bot got it. 

"Ain't you worried about cancer?" Kincaid asked as he pulled out his pack of cigs again. He paused, looking at her and quirking a brow. "You chain smoke. Don't get all high and mighty about chems just because your chem of choice is nicotine." 

"Cigs ain't a chem," Gage countered, quickly counting his pack. Thirteen, enough to last until they could get back to Fizztop. He pulled one out and lit it, taking a drag. Gage waved her off and shoved his pack of cigs back into his back pocket.

"Don't change what they do to you. Or do you not know?" she asked, tilting her head. Kincaid frowned and he moved down the street, spotting a house up on a tall hill. She muttered something about commonwealth education. Gage pointedly ignored her.

"We should get up there. It'll be a better vantage point," he told her. She pushed herself up and walked up beside him. She nodded, tossing away her own cig butt. She turned back towards the ATV. Gage followed her through the now silent streets of Bradburton, and their walk was mostly quiet, save for Kincaid humming to herself. She suddenly stopped, however, and turned to him. 

"Why do you smoke so much?" she asked, taking a step forward. Gage took a step back as she invaded his personal space.

"I'm about half a day out of death row. You tell me," he deadpanned. "And I've got you dosing up on hard chems-"

"As opposed to soft chems-" she interjected. Gage fixed her with a glare as she laughed.

“To fight ghouls we could take just fine without it,” he finished, with gritted teeth. She just smiled and he waved her off with a shake of his head. “If you dose up just for that, I’d hate to see how you deal with more serious threats.” It was grousing, but he had to say it even though Kincaid wasn’t paying attention, as she rattled off other chems she could take with psycho. He shook his head at the cackling laughter that followed her as she jogged to the ATV. She turned the key and it purred to life. She patted the seat beside her like they were on some sort of date.

This wasn’t some kinda shitty date. They were scouting and that’s it.

“Focus, Porter. Get it together,” he murmured to himself. He sighed and swung his leg over to get on. Ed-E was settled comfortably into the basket of the ATV, but Gage had to hold on to the seat Kincaid made a wide moved to turn around. For the better or the worse of it, they were off.

The ride through the now quiet town was mostly uneventful, despite Kincaid’s tendency to strafe left for some god damn reason and her need to speed up when cresting hills to get even a half second of air time. Occasionally, Gage picked off straggling ghouls that were drawn by the roar of the engine.

They came to a stop a fair distance away from a body of water. It looked it had once been some kind of drainage for the dam in the distance and general area, but years of neglect saw it swell to a sizeable lake.

“Use your scope to check it out. Could be clean water,” Gage suggested and she nodded. Kincaid lifted her sniper rifle to her eye and scanned over it. Gage leaned back and lit a cig so he could take just a moment to smoke. Twelve left.

“I can see a few ‘lurks,” she said. “Probably a couple more hiding in the mud, and not the worst source of water I’ve seen around Nuka-World.” Kincaid passed her rifle over to him. He let his cig sit in his mouth as he peered through the scope for himself and counted the mirelurks he could see around the lake’s edge. Gage hummed and blew smoke out his nose. He handed her back her rifle and nodded.

“Some trash, but probably sellable,” he noted.

“Glad you agree,” she said as she turned the key in the ignition once again, “because we’re gonna go check it out.”

They drove down to the reservoir and hopped off the ATV with their weapons drawn. Ed-E beeped loudly as Kincaid murked a couple close by mirelurks. She cackled again and ran over to the closest one and hacked off one of the claws.

“Lunch, Gage?” she said with a smile on her face like she just told the funniest joke in the world. Gage contorted his face in disgust.

“I ain’t much for seafood, Boss,” he said and she just shrugged and cracked open the shell with her knife and when she started to slurp out the meat inside, Gage had to look away. He walked around her and took a better look at the water. There was old debris scattered along the water’s edge, but that could be brushed aside pretty easy. It looked clean enough, but it had just rained a night or two ago, so there was still too much mud kicked up to really tell how clear it was. They could set purifiers up, and that would take care of the mud and most of the rads too. Selling water to thirsty chumps was always a nice, tidy business for a raider to partake in. He squatted down and scooped a handful of water up with his palms and brought it up to splash on his face to clean off the ghouls guts from the last fight. He watched the water ripple from where his hands had disturbed the water, but they got to be too many, too big, to be his doing. He looked up and stopped cold, still crouched at the lakeside, as the center of the man-made lake shivered.

“Kincaid,” he called. He made himself tear his eye away from the lake and she looked up from her meal. Her eyes widened when she saw the water and they exchanged a single glance before bolting for the ATV. Their backs were turned, but Gage heard a small whoosh of water and watched as a jet of acid arched over their heads and landed square on the vehicle, and Gage stopped just short of being hit by a piece of metal shrapnel from the impact.

“Ain’t this just fuck all,” he swore loudly and Kincaid darted past him to the road. He looked at the lake behind him as he watched the mirelurk queen rise fully out of the water and tower over him. It clicked and clattered, as every single mirelurk he’d counted along the lake, plus several more that popped out of their resting places in the ground, swarmed as she summoned her brood.

“Gage!” Kincaid screeched and Gage broke his fixated stare. He sucked in a deep breath and ran fast and hard up the road. Ed-E went hurtling past him and let out a long, loud beep that sounded an awful lot like a scream, and Gage empathized. He was going to fucking kill Kincaid if that mirelurk didn’t hit them with an acid bath first. They ran and ran, crossing a lot of ground as mirelurks swarmed up to the lakeside and out of the water.

“SONOFA-FUCKING-BITCH!” Gage shouted. Kincaid glanced back over her shoulder as what was left of the ATV went flying overhead. She skidded to a stop and Gage, unprepared to stop, barrelled into her as the vehicle hit the ground not far in front of them and rolled. The engine was smoking and that could mean exactly one thing. Reflexively, he wrapped his arms around her and rolled them so he shielded her from the worst of the heat from the miniature nuclear blast that burned into his back. He looked back up at the lumbering figure of the queen. She was a ways down the road. It screeched, waving its claws. They needed to move, and fast. It wouldn’t be long until something caught up to them. Ed-E beeped and kept going, leaving with the two of them.

Fine, good fucking riddance to the stupid cowardly bot.

Gage scrambled to get up and tried to grab Kincaid by the arm to tug along with him. She wrenched her arm out of his grip and snarled in his face. A clatter of mirelurks getting ever closer kept Gage from calling her on it. On their feet, they spent the briefest moment to look down the road and assess. They could fight, but there were so many ‘lurks, plus the queen, and the road ahead of them seemed clear. The clear option was to run.

They skirted the burning ATV and charged down the road as fast as they could manage.

Gage came to a stop first and tried to catch his breath while he scanned the horizon to see if he could see the queen. There were no sounds of mirelurks scuttling, and he couldn’t see the heavy, lumbering queen. He let himself pause, at least since relaxing was out of the question, and leaned a shoulder on a ruined billboard’s strut as he pulled out his pack of cigs and lit one. Kincaid came jogging up as he counted the cig’s left, eleven, and put the pack away.

“Can’t keep up?” she asked with an all-too-smug smirk on her face. He rolled his eyes and he took a deep drag from his cig. That was when he became very distinctly aware of the taunt, burned skin on his back. Fuck, that hurt. It hurt a lot. He took another shaky drag from his cig as he tried to pretend it didn’t. If he stood still enough, it didn’t hurt that much anyways. Kincaid went around him, he assumed to lean on the other billboard strut, but she came to a stop at his back.

“Oh. Oh no,” she muttered. Gage tried to look over his shoulder to see if it was really that bad. “Don’t. Your back looks pretty rough.”

He knew where this was going, he could see it coming a mile away even though he couldn’t see Kincaid.

“Boss, don’t-” he got out, but it was too late. Kincaid touched his back softly, and a wide swath of pain spread out from her touch and rippled around. He couldn’t pretend like this, not when it was this bad.

“No!” he grit out through a particularly rough wave of pain. He bit down on the filter of his cig to keep from biting through his lip. “Don’t fucking touch me,” he growled out even as he turned so she couldn’t. His hands shook and the vision in his good eye blurred until all he could see was a splotch of pink. The movement was too much, and he crouched down and shuddered as the pain rippled through him with renewed vigor. It was like he could feel his skin ripping and cracking even when he didn’t move. The dizziness was so much that he could only close his eye and hope that when he passed out, he fell forward instead of on his back.

“Gage?” Kincaid asked. He didn’t have much left in him, but he opened his eye at her gentle call of his name and bared his teeth at her. Letting people close while he was hurt was always a recipe for the disaster. She moved her hand so he could see it better to show him a stimpak. “Please, Gage, it looks really bad. Let me help.”

He sucked in a breath and shook his head. He wasn’t sure where his cig went, but he probably dropped it in the dead grass somewhere. Gage took the stim and fiddled with it for a moment. He tried to line it up neatly, but he shook so bad that careful wasn’t really an option. In the end, he jammed it into the thickest part of his arm. The relief was immediate as he could feel the skin of his back start to knit back together.

Gage was very aware that Kincaid kept watching him and it made his skin crawl.

“What?” he growled as he finally tried to stand. He leaned to stretch his back while the new skin was still stiff and pink.

“You want me to ping the Pack? I can see if they can come and pick us up?” she asked. Gage looked around on the ground for his dropped cig and was disappointed to find that it was unsalvageable. He shook his head and rubbed his face. He could still feel the stimpak working on his skin and, while it wasn’t as bad as before, it still fucking hurt. Despite that, the idea of Mason and his animals coming to pick them up made him want to claw off his own face.

He shook his head again and looked at Kincaid now that his vision was clear again.

“Don’t bother. Ain’t nothing so serious a stimpak didn’t fix it.” He started to follow the road again, but Kincaid stayed stopped and looked at him as he walked past her. She jogged to catch up and she opened her mouth, but he put his hand up. “Think about what you’re going to say. If it’s some sort of dumbass comment, I’m going to deck you. Overboss or not,” Gage threatened. Kincaid took a step away from him and tilted her head as she visibly thought about it. She blinked once and a lazy smile spread across her face.

He didn’t care for that smile one bit.

“Did the armor protect you?” she asked. Her lazy smile shifted to a shit-eating grin as she bolted ahead.

Gage resisted the very real urge to shoot her and watched how she pranced down the road and laughed. He rubbed his face again. He was too tired to deal with her boundless energy. He’d get even, but it wouldn’t be while he was staving off the exhaustion stimpaks caused in their wake of healing so he could keep putting one foot in front of the other. They walked for what must have been an hour or so before coming across a big hill and catching up with the eyebot. Naturally, she climbed up it with ease as he followed far slower.

“What we got?” he asked as she peered through her rifle scope.

“A Red Rocket. Ed-E says it’s mostly clear,” she told him. He looked out and squinted past the setting sun. Yeah, he could make out the sign a long ways off in the distance. “I’m thinking it might be worth stopping there for the night. No way we’re making it back to Fizztop before shit gets dark.” He nodded, and she let her rifle hang from its strap. They approached quietly, though Gage kept his rifle at the ready. They stalked around the outside of the building and besides a couple of small bugs, there was no real threat. There were no ghouls, no molerats, no bloodworms. If Gage had been thinking about more than sitting down and eating something solid, he would have found that suspicious. 

But he was hungry. And he was tired. So he entered the lobby of the Red Rocket before Kincaid did. He rifled around a bit, but there wasn’t much worth taking. All he found were some Fancy Lads and a couple of boxes of Sugar Bombs. He pulled them off the shelf with a disappointed frown and walked to the far end to the garage. That was empty, save a few pieces of knocked over equipment. He went over to the wall and hit the button to close the bay door.

The button clicked, but nothing happened. He tried again and, again, nothing happened. Kincaid rounded through the bay door and gave him a thumbs up.

“We’re all good as far as critters go,” she told him. He huffed and scratched his neck.

“Ain’t got power. Gotta close the doors by hand,” he told her. “But otherwise it’s all clear inside.” Kincaid looked like she had stopped paying attention as she looked at the bay door. The only thing that distracted her was the tiny haul he started to set down on an overturned tool cabinet.

“I’m going to get a fire going,” Kincaid announced, and Gage decided she had that handled. He let himself sit down for a moment. He closed his eye with a heavy sigh, though he told himself he couldn’t go to sleep just yet.


	5. Light of the Morning

His back still hurt, but it had faded to a dull ache instead of the constant throbbing it had been. He had done more with Kincaid in the last two days than Colter had gotten done in the last six months. It felt good. Well, it felt like a toasted back and a collection of blisters on his feet, but it was productive. And productive felt good.

“Hey Gage, can you set up the bedrolls?” Kincaid asked, and Gage had to force himself to open his eye again. He nodded and pushed himself off of the heavy equipment and set up their bedrolls while Kincaid stoked the fire. “So what’d you find?”

“Fancy Lads and Sugar Bombs,” he said. He finished rolling out his own setup and let himself relax for just a moment. She had a bright smile on her face, though.

“Toss me them Lads, Gage. I need me some Fancy Lads.” Kincaid made grabbing motions and Gage wrinkled his nose as he tossed her the box.

“It’s all fucking nasty,” Gage said. “What food lasts two hundred years without goin’ bad?”

Kincaid looked up from the box clutched in her hands and glared at him. “I am a woman of many vices, Porter Gage. Fancy Lads are one of them. If you try and stop me, I will bite your hand,” she threatened. Gage just shook his head in confusion and reluctantly grabbed one of the boxes of Sugar Bombs. Why couldn’t, just once, he scavenge a nice brahmin steak or enough radstag for a stew? It was a criminal injustice that people thought this shit was food.

He ate what he could make himself as Kincaid fished for something from her duffle bag. Her bat was strapped to the outside of her pack, but the inside of it was a nebulous void of scrap and supplies that sometimes left Gage scared or confused. Kincaid was lucky she hadn’t left it on the ATV, though she must make a habit out of losing vehicles with how she hauled that bag everywhere. Her bot came floating up and Gage looked at it as it stared at him. It hummed and powered down, landing at the end of Kincaid’s bedroll. Gage just ignored it and moved onto his next task before he could get some much-needed rest. He undid the straps of his armor and pulled it off. He rubbed his face and took an inventory of new scrapes and scratches on his arms. Most of them were healed by the stim, but some of them were still in the process of closing up. He tossed his rucksack next to his armor and pulled out his medkit with a small container of vodka. He looked over at Kincaid as she was tending the small fire she had gotten going.

“You hurt?” he asked and she looked up at him. As if she hadn’t thought to check before now, she looked at her own arms and legs before she shook her head. So he set down in medkit and started to work on the nicks and scrapes that peppered his arms from fighting ghouls. They weren’t so bad, but they’d scar worse if he didn’t clean them.

“Do you need help?” Kincaid asked and he looked up at her again. She tilted her head and he sighed and pushed the kit towards her. Kincaid came over and sat down next to him, just off his bedroll. She took his arm gently and dabbed at the scratches with the alcohol. She worked quietly, going from one spot to the next, and then on to his other arm. She motioned for him to turn around and Gage did so. He didn’t really want to, but he should let her clean the burn before he turned in.

“You’re going to need to take your shirt off, Gage,” she said, and Gage hesitated. It wouldn’t really hurt to take it off, but it was a lot of risk in letting a virtual stranger so close with basically nothing between her and him. In the end, she tugged at the bottom hemline of his shirt and he pulled it over his head. She started to clean that injury too, and she wasn’t exactly gentle. It hurt, but he could appreciate that. He didn’t want anyone using kid gloves on him. “The burns have gone down to a first degree, so it isn’t so bad. We should still have Mackenzie take a look at you.”

“I told you that it’ll be fine boss,” he said but she waved it away.

“You’re lucky we weren’t closer to it. That would have been hella bad,” Kincaid told him. When she was done, she handed him back his medkit and he tucked it away. They sat quietly for a while. Kincaid sat by the fire and munched on her stale snack cakes and Gage was far happier with jerky she produced from her coat. He was too tired to think, to talk, to do much more than chew. He startled when she got up and tossed her coat onto her bedroll while she stretched.

“Hey Gage, come with me,” she told him. Her smile was so bright, and it was just enough to pull him from where he was sitting. Gage got up with the sluggish movement of an eighty-year-old and scratched the back of his neck as she grabbed his free hand and pulled him outside. The sun had long set, and it was just dark. “Do you ever look at the stars, Gage?”

He didn’t, but with how earnest her smile was, he was tempted to lie and tell her whatever bullshit she wanted to hear. He frowned at how his brain twisted up.

“Not in a long time,” he told her. He brushed away those thoughts. She laughed, though, and they came creeping back.

“Come with me. I noticed something last night,” she told him. He gave her a questioning look, but she just pulled him further out of the Red Rocket. There was a full moon in the sky that, along with the stars, kept them from total darkness. She took him around the side of the building and bounced slightly.

“Boost me up,” she ordered. Gage sighed and picked her up. She climbed up onto the roof with the added height and scrambled over the side. He waited in the shadow of the building. He bit his lip, unsure if she would just leave him standing there. She popped back over the side and offered her arm out. He wasn’t sure she could lift him, but he decided if she could carry that mass of a bag around all the time, she could lift him for a second. He took her hand and she pulled while Gage scaled the brick to the best of his ability. When he was finally up she pointed to the sky and he finally looked up, and really saw the blanket of stars that sprawled out above them.

She sat down and patted the ground beside her for him to follow. He sat and let himself relax as she chattered about constellations. She would point up to the sky to show him something she thought was cool, but he watched her face and just admired how soft she was despite the scars that ran up her cheeks. He hummed in agreement with whatever observations she made about the sky, and just enjoyed their brief break from the tension in Nuka-Town. He didn’t feel like he needed to worry about a gun to his head or a knife in his side with her. He didn’t trust much in this world, but he knew how to read people, and that just wasn’t Kincaid’s style. It went against how she carried herself. She smacked his arm and that pulled him out of his inner thoughts.

“You just get so into your own head, don’t you?” she asked. Gage quirked an eyebrow and she just laughed. “I asked if you still liked that tattoo you have on your shoulder, and you just nodded, so I know you weren’t paying attention.”

That tricked a laugh out of Gage. Of course, she would make fun of that shitty tattoo he thought was so tough at 16.

“I completely lost you. I could tell that even without a dumb test. You just got this little smile on your face and started nodding along,” she told him. She leaned her hand on his hand, and suddenly he didn’t feel like laughing. He could feel the heat rise up his neck and onto his face. She just smiled at him and turned her eyes back to the sky. Gage rubbed his arm and hoped she couldn’t see the embarrassment crawling up his face in the darkness, but the full moon was so bright, he was sure she could see anyway.

“Sorry,” he muttered. The word rolled out of his mouth with surprising ease. That took him by surprise; he didn’t usually apologize for shit, and especially not for some weird observation. She laughed again and he looked at her. Kincaid had laid back on the roof and brought her hands up to cushion the back of her head on the concrete of the Red Rocket roof.

“I don’t mind, really. It’s a good thing. You’re not all tensed up, and I feel like I’m looking at the real you, not the mask you put on for the gangs,” Kincaid said. “I like that you’re enjoying yourself. It’s nice here, with the stars so bright. They’re almost as bright as they are out in the Mojave.”

Gage hummed in response, and Kincaid turned her head to look at him. He felt like he needed to say something else, so it didn’t look like he had tuned her out again.

“You from out west?” he asked. It felt like a dumb question, but she took it as a sign to continue.

“Not from there, but I spent a few years out there. That was the first thing I really noticed out in the desert, that everything was so bright at night. There was no light except campfires to filter it out. The town I was in was too small and energy was too precious to spare. It was a good little town called Goodsprings.”

“Good springs?” he asked. It sounded fake, but who was he to judge when he lived in an old theme park. She laughed and nodded. She talked about some of the people there. Gage relaxed and decided to lean back, the same way Kincaid had. He let his head rest on his hands and listened to her chatter about the wildlife and the people. She told him about a pretty horribly injury, and the local doctor that had taken her in and saved her.

“Two to the head,” she told him. “Bang, bang.” She made a gun motion with her hand to the left side of her head and lifted her hair to show him. Sure enough, there was a nasty scar on her temple. “A fuck in a bad suit named Benny Gecko wanted the package I was supposed to deliver. Decided I needed to die to take it from me. I didn’t die though. You could call me a right proper radroach, like that.” Gage just watched her. The head wound explained some of the erratic behavior at the very least, and why she wrote so much shit down. Gage hummed thoughtfully and Kincaid looked over at him. Her eyes were so big and hazel, and just smiled at him.

They sat like that for a while, quietly watching the stars, before Gage got up. Kincaid watched him get up while lounging back like a lioness.

“We should start night watch. Do you mind staying up first? I need sleep,” he told her. She nodded and he held out a hand to help her to her feet. She hopped off the edge of the roof like she was some kinda pink haired rabbit, and he followed after a little more carefully. They walked back around to the bay door and Kincaid grabbed a bit of kindling to stoke the fire back to life.

Gage reached up and grabbed the edge of the garage door to give it a tug. He hadn’t expected it to be easy, but the door barely moved. He gave it another pull and when it moved, he looked up to see Kincaid had joined him on the other side and had reached up to help. They pulled it down most of the way but left about four inches of clearance between the door and the ground. Gage wiped his hands off on his pants and looked to Kincaid who had gone back to the fire that had gone low with a lack of maintenance.

“You go ahead and rest. I’ll take the first watch,” Kincaid told him. Gage just nodded. He was glad he didn’t have to argue with her about watch. He was too tired for that. He went back to his bedroll and kicked off his boots so he could lay down. “Good night, Gage.” He gave Kincaid a weak grunt in reply and pulled off his patch only to idly drop it next to his head.

He didn’t remember falling asleep; it must have been near instant, but he sure as hell woke up with a start. Kincaid was shaking him awake with a finger to her lips. He sat up and tried to figure out where the danger was when he heard it. There was a snorting sound of something outside the bay door. He looked to Kincaid who tugged gently on his arm. He moved with her to hide behind some of the equipment. He was afraid to say anything, but they needed to figure out what this was and how to deal with it.

Kincaid typed on her Pip-Boy and moved her arm over so he could read it.

‘It’s something big.’

He nodded and peeked over their cover as he heard another snort. The eyebot hovered silently in one corner of the room with its little laser poised and ready. He looked at the garage door and tried to get a good look at the shadow that on the ground from the sunlight that filter in. It was hard to get a lock on the shape of it, so all he knew was that it was big and dangerous. He closed his eye and let out a measured breath. Kincaid stood and silently moved around their cover to rifle through her bag. As silent as she was, the thing outside the door seemed to know she was there because it paused and snorting a few times.

Gage watched as she pulled out a couple of weirdly shaped grenades and walked over to the garage door. She pulled the pin on each of them, one by one, and rolled them under the door. Quicker than a flash of lightning, Kincaid was back behind cover with him. He covered his ears, but his head still spun at the series of loud bangs. The creature howled and snarled in rage. It dawned on him and the blood in his veins ran cold.

It was a motherfucking deathclaw.

He didn’t realize they were close enough to one of the parking lots to have caught the attention of a wandering deathclaw, but the Red Rocket must have been closer to the parks than he realized. The door shook as the screech of claws on metal made Gage’s skin crawl. He scrambled over the cover. He shoved his feet into his boots and pulled his shirt back on while Kincaid picked up her guns, and a belt of frag grenades.

“It’ll be crippled at least,” Kincaid said as she made sure her rifle was loaded. Gage hopped on one foot as he tried to tie his second boot, but he looked up at her. She didn’t look afraid, or like she had any fear at all. In fact, she almost looked bored. That was comforting a weird way. Gage had enough terror for the both of them if he thought about it, so he thought it best to just not. After all, there was no situation that panicking didn’t make worse. Gage grabbed his rifle and ammo belt so he could follow Kincaid as she went into the lobby of the Red Rocket.

“You got a plan, Boss?” he asked as he loaded a clip into his rifle. She turned.

“Try not to die?” she grinned and he stared at her. He felt pale, and he couldn’t believe that was what she had come up with. There was another screech of claws on the side of the building and Kincaid turned to the door.

“That’s not a plan!” he snarled. “That’s a goal!” Kincaid didn’t even look back at him, but he paused in the doorway between the lobby and the garage. Panic crawled up his spine despite his best efforts to ignore it. She had made it to the door and leaned out to shoot towards the bay door, and back in to reload. The deathclaw snarled and continued to scratch at the door in an attempt to get it open. A howl of pain came from outside and it sounded like she hit a soft spot before she leaned in to reload. The moment Gage had been dreading since he first heard the screeching finally happened as claws pierced the thin metal that peeled like the top of a sardine can. Glass crunched as the metal warped. The deathclaw shouldered its way in and Gage didn’t even hesitate to raise his rifle and take shot after shot from the doorway. It didn’t look like he was doing any damage, and the familiar mix of dread and panic settled in his gut as he pulled back as the deathclaw tried to charge him. He ran out the door, too small for the deathclaw to fit through. He hadn’t even realized Kincaid had left the Red Rocket until he left through the door she had been leaning out of and saw her out on the road in the morning light. She had her rifle to her eye as she prepared a shot.

There was a pool of blood in front of the garage bay, and when the deathclaw stepped through the ruined door again, he got a good look at where it had come from. Half of its face was blown to shit like one of Kincaid’s .50 bullets went straight through an eye and one of its arms was burned to fuck and back from the grenade blasts. Gage remained still, frozen in place as the deathclaw spotted him and rounded a defunct car. It snarled and roared, and it was the crack of Kincaid’s rifle that broke Gage from his stupor. He dove for the door to the lobby of the Red Rocket just in time to keep the deathclaw from pouncing on him. He wasn’t sure if her shot hit, but the deathclaw roared and turned to set Kincaid in its sights. It moved to charge Kincaid and the only thing Gage could do was spray it with as many bullets as he could while it bounded towards Kincaid up on the road, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. Kincaid rolled as it tried to pounce her too, and it tumbled past her. In one smooth motion, Kincaid got to her feet and sprinted back to the parking lot and towards the small cluster of abandoned cars. She had pulled her grenade belt off of her and it was clutched in her hands. She ducked to slide it under a car as she ran past.

Gage could only keep shooting as he pushed away the dread that started to well up in his chest, while the beast just shrugged off his bullets like they were paper confetti. It had lost all interest in him, but its attention was locked on Kincaid. She laughed and taunted the deathclaw with whoops and loud calls. She stood on top of a car now and stomped on the metal roof of it to make more noise. She took potshots, but it didn’t seem to matter to her if she hit or not. It was like it was her goal to make it mad as hell. He watched as the deathclaw geared up to charge again as it rolled its shoulder and Gage swallowed back bile as Kincaid stopped her noise making and blew the deathclaw a kiss. She was insane. She had to be absolutely nuts. It finally charged; its claws tore up the cracked asphalt as it ran full tilt towards her. Kincaid hopped down from the car and bolted out from behind it. It was far too late for the deathclaw to change course, so Kincaid easily got out of the way and ran towards the door where Gage stood. She tackled him, and he couldn’t stop her from knocking them both to the ground inside the Red Rocket lobby. She pulled her coat around the both of them. He tried to get a look over her shoulder, but she pressed him to her chest as a massive explosion rocked the very ground beneath them. There was a loud crunch of metal, glass, and plastic and the sound of a car frame hitting the cement.

Kincaid sat up in time for him to see a splatter of meat rain down in the parking lot of the Red Rocket.

“I love doing that,” she said with a laugh. She pushed her hair back out of her face as Gage propped himself up with his elbows. The carcass of the deathclaw landed a good 50 feet from the parking lot with a loud, gross squelch that turned his stomach. Bits of blood and meat still rained down for a short moment still. Gage just stared dumbly at Kincaid, who sat on his thighs and used one of her pink kerchiefs to wipe the sweat that had gathered from her brow.

He didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t feel his face, and his breathing was uneven and he hands trembled.

“My coat is fireproof. Well, mostly at least,” she told him with a shrug. “Gotta do this shit a lot.” She stood up and held her hand out to Gage. He stared at it for a second before he took it. His head still spun and his heart wanted to beat out of his chest. He just leaned back on the wall behind where he stood and Kincaid went back to their campsite in the garage. He focused on breathing and considered lighting a cig, but he couldn’t get his hands to still enough to trust himself with a lighter.

“Seriously, Gage, are you okay?” He looked up from his hands into her eyes. She pushed a bottle of water into his hand and he just took it.

“Y-yeah. Yeah. I’m good,” he said. He took a deep breath and cracked the cap on the bottle and took a long drink. He felt much better after, as the water washed away much of the panic and dread that lingered. She smiled at him and he felt heat rise to his cheeks.

“Don’t worry. Everyone gets shaken when ambushed by a deathclaw,” she said. She put a hand on his shoulder and pushed some kind of jerky into his free hand. “You did really well for being shaken awake like you did.”

“Ain’t my first gauntlet, but it was a helluva way to wake up, sure,” he told her. She nodded and watched him carefully and he realized she was waiting for him to eat the jerky she put in his hand. She relaxed and focused on him far less when he finally tore off a chunk of the jerky and started to chew on it. She gently rubbed his shoulder while he finished his food and water, and he was unsure how he felt about that. None of it felt bad, so he kept his mouth shut but it didn’t help the tangle of emotions he shoved into the back corner of his brain ever time she’d focus on him. He drained the last of the water bottle and stood up straight. He felt much better than before.

“I’m just gonna say that was pretty damn spectacular, Boss,” Gage told her. He wiped off his forehead on the back of his hand. “But I’m pretty sure I could go a lifetime without a repeat performance.” She just laughed. She forced a second bottle of water on him and backed out of Gage’s personal space and leaned on the counter.

"You shoulda seen some of the shit I pulled in the Mojave," she told him, as she hopped up on the counter behind her. "And, oh god, making my way over to the Mojave too. I was tracking a fucker, human that time, and they managed to sneak their way through an entire fucking nest. I stumbled in and up looms no less than four big ass matriarch deathclaws." She motioned with her hands to set the mood of the encounter. She took time describing the beasts and how she barely crawled out of the pit alive. He tilted his head and raised a brow. If he hadn't just witnessed her blow a deathclaw sky high he'd be inclined to call bullshit. Though the tale was could be a little exaggerated, it wasn’t embellished like a RedEye original, and ended with her cutting out and running. He sipped his water, Kincaid talking about how she shot the fucker dead for the hell they put her through.

"So you're originally from the Commonwealth?" he asked. She nodded and shoved her hands in her pockets. She smiled slightly, with her bright eyes locked on him.

"Took bounties a lot. That was my bread and butter before I got the Mojave. I didn't want to go back for a while so I hung around and did some courier work, some merc work, some bounties. The Mojave was great," she told him as she pushed off the counter and landed on her feet. They walked together back into the garage and Gage couldn't resist the urge to ask one more question.

"So why'd you come back?" he looked over and she pushed her hair out of her face. She looked almost sad. She didn’t look up at him, only stared at her hands as she rolled up her bedroll.

"Got some unfinished business with a former employer. Once it’s done I'm going back. The Mojave is my home more than the ‘Wealth ever was," Kincaid told him. She zipped up the duffle and hauled it up on her shoulder. Ed-E beeped happily and Kincaid shoved the little bot playfully, which was now hovering around her.

“I think we’ll be mostly in the clear for the walk home today. We gotta get Mackenzie to look at your burns and restock up. Then tomorrow we can pay the Hubologists a visit and see what sort of fucking terrors the right side of the park has,” Kincaid said as she once again pushed her hair back. She frowned and finally pulled out a box of pins.

“My back is fine, we could just loop around and talk to the local crazies today,” Gage suggested. He stretched and there wasn’t much more than muted jolts here or there. Kincaid looked up at him and tilted her head. She opened up her Pip-Boy, looking at the map. Gage ignored her as he picked up his eyepatch and then armor. He endeavored not to flinch when the straps rested against his back, tightening the buckles.

“That’s a solid four-hour walk. We could stop by Nuka Town and take a couple more ATVs,” Kincaid countered with her own suggestion. “The Zoo is only two hours away, I’m sure Mason won’t mind too much.” Gage just laughed.

“You sure about that? They use those ATVs on their hunts and now they’re two down with nothing to show for it,” Gage told her. He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “Don’t expect more help then you’ve already been given. These aren’t your friends, Kincaid. They’re raiders and we’re fucking around outside the parks,” Gage reminded her, and she frowned. “You get used to it.” Gage told her. She adjusted her bag and huffed loudly.

After a mostly uneventful four hour hike later, they came across the Hubologists camp, and Gage had the good sense to keep his mouth shut as Kincaid spoke to their leader. They were completely nuts in his humble opinion, but Kincaid was talking out some sort of contract. He flipped open his pack of cigs and counted out ten left. He didn’t have the energy to smoke after he’d gotten the stim. He pulled one out and lit it so he could take a long drag. Ed-e beeping at him. 

“Oh, you ain’t gonna harass me about these too?” he asked, the bot beeping again. He was talking to a bot. One that likely didn’t even have a proper AI. Gage felt dumb, but the eyebot pressed on, beeping more until he acknowledged it. “What?” he asked, the thing bouncing in the air. Kincaid came jogging over and Gage decided to ignore the eyebot, focusing instead on his boss.

"Alright! So they want space suit costumes from Galactic Zone and I talked her up to paying three hundred fifty caps a pop!" Kincaid smiled and Gage quirked a brow.

"Stellar," he told her and she paused before laughing. Gage took another drag as she put her hands on her hips.

"Was that a joke?" she asked. His lips pulled into a little smile and he blew smoke out of his nose. He shrugged, and she shook her head, She slammed her fist into her other palm. "Business, Gage! This is serious business. We're gonna get a bunch of fake space suits for people who believe the sky talks to them," Kincaid told him, snorting and unable to hold back giggles. Her eyebot beeped loudly, mimicking an uncanny version of laughter. It dodged and wove next to her as it floated in little circles as she smiled at Gage. He tossed away his used cigarette butt, standing up. 

"Where to next?" He asked, Kincaid pulling up her Pip-Boy. She pressed a few buttons and he moved to be able to see it. The thing was fucking convenient, he had to admit.

"Uh, we were gonna check the junkyard, but I think we should keep to the outskirts of it. I’m not really interested in a repeat of this morning," Kincaid rubbed her chin. Gage nodded. He wasn’t exactly keen on a repeat either. "Then I say we poke our noses into Galactic Zone and see what we got to deal with there," she told him. Gage rubbing the back of his neck as he thought about it, and it seemed like a solid plan.

“Alright, how far is the scrap yard?” Gage asked. Kincaid panned around her map. The eyebot around her vibrated intensely and she gave it an absent-minded pat on the frame.

“About half an hour at most, probably less,” Kincaid told him. She looked up and dropped her arm. “We can get there, take a look around, then pop over to Galactic and be back in Nuka-Town USA before supper.” Kincaid smiled and Gage nodded as shouldered his pack. “Ed-E, will you go scout out Galactic Zone for me?” Kincaid asked the eyebot, which beeped several times. Kincaid smiled and planted a little kiss on the grate in front of its optic sensor. Gage watched silently, eyes focused on her lips. He looked away quickly as he felt heat rise up to his cheeks. He had a few thoughts of those lips on his face that he shoved down deep. She was his boss and he’d known her for three fucking days. He just needed to blow off steam and then all would be well.

The eyebot floated its way towards the park and Kincaid turned to Gage with a smile. “After you?” she asked, motioning to the road. Gage started down it, setting their pace.


	6. Violence

Ah, Robots. Gage hated robots.

This junkyard? Full of fucking robots. Protectrons, defunct eyebots… Sentry Bots.

Gage had his shoulder against the warehouse door as Kincaid peeked out of cover. “why? Why is there a fucking sentry bot here?” she bitched as she reloaded her gauss rifle. Gage glared at her and flared his nose, Kincaid shrugging as she lifted the rifle. Her bag laid at her feet, open and contents spewed around. The sentry bot hit the door again and Gage shoved back, snapping his eye shut. 

He struggled for a moment before snarling loudly. “A little help would be APPRECIATED.” Gage turned and pressed his entire back against the creaking wood, his feet scraping into the floor boards as he was slowly pushed forward. Kincaid ran over and shouldered the door shut, knocking Gage to his ass. He scrambled up and pressed his back against it as the sentry bot rammed into the wood again, bouncing the both of them off the door for a split second. “Come to the junkyard she says- WE’LL BE BACK BY SUPPER SHE SAYS.” Gage looked at Kincaid and she gave him an apologetic smile as he huffed. 

She pulled out a grenade and pulled the pin, waiting for the sentry bot to ram the door again before tossing it through.

Three. Two. One. BZZRT. 

Gage flinched at the loud static, but the whirl of the bot quieted, and the pressure on the door eased. “We only got a minute!” Kincaid threw open the door and all but shoved Gage to the ground. He hit the floor and rolled, popping up to see Kincaid crawling up the sentry bot. 

He could feel the confusion contort his face, eye narrowing. “The fuck you doing?!” he asked, glancing between the bot and Kincaid. She had a bowie knife and was prying at something on its back. It was only a matter of time before the pulse EMP wore off and the damn thing booted back up. 

Kincaid’s blade glanced off the metal and she tried again. “What the fuck does it look like?!” she asked, managing to wedge her knife in as the bot started to come back to life, booting up. Gage dove behind cover and peeked over it as Kincaid tugged harder. “Fffffff-FUCK” she shouted as she wrapped her legs around the bots torso and kept yanking on the knife frantically. “GAGE! DISTRACT IT!” she screeched as the bot tried to get at her, spinning around. It took Kincaid with it, ending up with the bot spinning and Kincaid clinging like an over-sized louse. 

Gage looked at the rifle in his hand, and then up at the twirling bot. Gage narrowed his eye, it served her damn right for triggering the stupid robot in the first place. They didn’t have to try and get the batteries out of it, they didn’t have to fucking touch it, but Kincaid insisted. He sucked in a breath through his nose, steadying his hands. He needed her alive and functioning to be the Overboss. He popped up from his cover and aimed his gun at the sentry bot’s treads, popping off a few rounds.

It instantly stopped spinning and turned towards him, optical sensor zeroing in. Gage bolted for the back of the warehouse as “CEASE AND DESIST” echoed mechanically behind him and the deafening crunch of treads against the wooden floor boards almost drowned out the shouts of his Overboss. He dodged into an office of some sort and shoved the door closed, looking around. A desk, stairs, a couple of lockers- the stairs were his best option so he took them two at a time. The door to the office cracked and fell apart as the bot maneuvered into the room, optical sensor catching Gage for only a moment as he rounded a corner. The whirl of its machine gun made his hair rise on end as he escaped to a balcony up near the ceiling of the warehouse. He didn’t even know the warehouse had a second floor, which if he stopped and thought about was probably because him and Kincaid only came in because they were running- but he was distracted, and the bot was out of the office now and had trained its eye on him. Kincaid was still yanking on its back panel, face all flushed and teeth clenched on her lower lip. Gage sucked in a breath, the bot’s machine gun starting to whirl back to life as Gage bolted for the stairs. H

He was chased by a hail of bullets, barely making it to safety. He swallowed hard and wheezed, seeing the red glare of the optic sensor through the office door as the AI tracked him. “cease and desist. You are trapped, submit and die.” the bot’s voice rang out, Gage swallowing down anxiety. The bot wheeled into view and Gage scrambled back up the stairs, looking around the balcony. There were some rad barrels, a makeshift walkway, a flimsy desk with a small safe and a computer on it- nothing that would make decent cover. He looked down and the bot came out of the office, its gun still spinning. It was a matter of time before he wasn’t fast enough to get away, until he got clipped and killed. His brain was working a thousand miles an hour to escape-

Did the office have a window? Could he get down the stairs fast enough to hide in a locker? Could he upend the heavier desk to hide behind? Could he lead the bot far enough to make a mad dash for the door? Could he throw himself down the fifteen feet and land on the bot and pull a Kincaid? 

The bot turned and Gage froze, eye wide as it aimed at him. Every muscle in his body screamed to move but icy terror overwhelmed him. There was no way for him to escape. He was going to die here and it was because of the stupidity of someone else. 

Kincaid fell backwards with a thud and Gage took a step back as the bot’s head turned. The robot stuttered with the crackle of Kincaid’s gauss rifle, Kincaid smiling something that looked more akin to a rabid dog from the ground. The robot sank down as the last of the power drained from it, shutting off completely. Gage took a shakey breath and walked to the edge. “what did you do?” he asked, Kincaid turning to him. She got up and dusted off her pants. 

“I shot out the batteries.” Kincaid smiled and he pulled out his cigs, slipping one into his mouth without bothering to count. He lit it and took a shaky drag as she made her way to the office, taking the stairs quickly. “how you holding up? Did it hit you?” she asked as she rounded the corner, Gage just shaking his head. 

She closed the distance between them and Gage huffed smoke out of his nose, throwing his hands up. “I’m fine boss.” he told her, she opted to check him over anyways despite his grumbling. “Boss. Please.” he huffed and she laughed, adjusting the bars on his armor. 

She seemed satisfied and turned to the computer. She trotted over it and started to click on the keys. Gage followed behind her, taking time to smoke and calm his nerves. “anything useful?” Gage asked, Kincaid biting her lip and squinting slightly as she read through menus. 

“Maybe...” Kincaid muttered, clicking through passwords. The door on the safe swung open and she turned to Gage with a big smile and he chuckled, walking over and checking the safe. There was a big ass piece of tech in there, looked sellable at the very least. He tossed it to Kincaid who looked it over, humming and hawing as he shoved prewar bills into his pack and pulled out a lighter. 

“Looks like some sort of computer chip” Kincaid told him, holding out the tech. He shrugged and looked up at her. “Might be useful.” Kincaid muttered as she flipped it over and started reading the label, her head tilting first to the left, and then to the right. It was kind of endearing, in its own weird way. 

“You need a lighter, Boss?” Gage asked, holding up the gold plated flip lighter. She shook her head so he tucked it into his pocket, standing up. She tucked the tech into her bag and walked away from him. “What next boss? Galactic Zone?” Gage asked, Kincaid looking out of a window. She motioned him over and he walked slowly, gazing out of the dirty glass. 

“The hell is that?” she asked, motioning to a lone building looming a ways off. It loomed on the horizon, towering over the trash of the junkyard. 

“No idea.” Gage told her, scratching his neck. She hummed and turned, walking towards the edge of the balcony. “Boss?” Gage asked, confused as she looked down. She stepped off and he felt his heart skip a beat. “Kincaid!” He rushed to the edge. She looked up at him from the bottom floor, raising an eyebrow. “What the FUCK do you think you’re doing?!” he asked, she turned to face him. 

“It’s faster than the stairs.” she shrugged, Gage glaring down at her. She didn't seem too worse for wear, but a drop like that would usually break bones. He stayed where he was and she turned to him, tilting her head. “You coming or what? I wanna see what that building is.” Gage closed his eyes and pinched his nose, counting back from ten.

This day was bullshit, it was all bullshit. As he walked down the stairs to rejoin her he thought on the happenings of the last three days. First she waltzes in and kills Colter, then she fucking gets in good with almost all the bosses, today she’s killed a deathclaw and disabled a sentry bot. It didn’t sound real- it sounded like some shit RedEye would make up. 

Complete Bullshit.

“How did you not break your legs jumping down?” Gage asked as they walked out of the warehouse. She looked over and tilted her head, a look of realization dawned on her and she pushed her hair back. He frowned, feeling his entire mood sour.

“Right. Cybernetic enhancements aren’t near so common over on the east coast are they?” She asked, Gage quirking his brow. “I got metal bones, or metal encased bones I can’t remember. Metal bones, a few brain implants, subdermal armor, uh...” she looked up as she counted on her fingers, Gage just staring at her. “A metal spine!” she quipped, looking at him. 

A cyborg definitely explained many things. Gage kept putting one foot in front of the other as she rambled on about the clinic she got most of the implants at. Some office outside of Vegas, mostly free, something about apocalypse followers. A lot of it went over his head but it was kind of nice to just listen her talk. She talked about the metal alloy under her skin, about having her brain removed? Gage turned and looked at her and Kincaid smiled. 

“Yeah! They completely removed my noodle. Just right on out. Had to convince it to come back. It was a fucking trip.” Kincaid told him all chipper like. Gage just stared at her and shook his head. No way that happened. Shit like that just doesn't happen. She was testing him obviously. He let it slide without comment though, Kincaid prattling about experimental tech and assassin suits that spoke. 

“So what about you, Mr. Gage?” She asked, he looked over at her. “Where are you from?” she smiled and he frowned. 

“Why?” he asked, and she laughed. He turned back towards the road, crossing his arms and trying to will the hairs on the back of his neck to lay back down. They didn’t though, and he could feel the scrutiny burning on his skin. He glanced at her and she smiled. A thought flashed through his mind, almost too quick to catch.

What he would do for that smile.

Oh no, no he didn’t like that at all. That was no t the sort of thoughts he needed right now. That had to stop right quick. She walked beside him, hands behind her back and a bounce in her step. “Knowing where you come from is knowing who you are.” She told him, looking over. He wrinkled his nose and she chuckled. “That and I am oh so dreadfully curious. I’ve told you plenty, now cough it up- what about you?” he shook his head and it just prompted another laugh. The laugh sent shivers up his spine and he decided to nip this all in the bud. No information she didn’t need to know- none at all.

“Oh come on now, we’re supposed to be trusting each other- how are we supposed to do that if we don’t even know one another.” 

When she didn’t take the hint he sighed heavily, getting tired of her pestering him. “Came from a shitty little settlement to the south. Not much more than a farm and a couple of shitty farmers. Got rolled over, got shot, didn’t know when to quit.” He grit out, she tilted her head and frowned. He narrowed his eye and shoved his hands into his pants pockets, trying to convey he didn’t want to be bothered about it anymore. He kept his gaze anywhere but her. She kept quiet after that, Gage decided he enjoyed silence. He didn’t miss her voice at all. Not one bit.  
He was very bad at lying to himself. 

Kincaid moved ahead as they got closer to the building, seeing signage for something called “The Mystery Mansion”. She moved forward with caution, approaching the doors. A protectron called out, causing Kincaid to jump. Gage couldn’t help but chuckle as she moved over to it. He hung back as she spoke with it, asking questions about the property. 

He picked up a flier from one of the empty stands that dotted the path towards the doors. It was some over dramatic retelling about some child who murdered her family or committed some sort of crime like arson- something like that. It read worse than campfire stories by green ass raider runts trying to impress each other. When she came back over she seemed pretty chipper. He shoved the flyer in his back pocket and hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “Looks like some old world amusement thing.” She put her hands on her hips. “Haunted mansion or some shit.” 

“Was this supposed to scare people or make them laugh?” Gage asked, Kincaid tilting her head. “Honestly I can’t tell.” He looked around, up at the dilapidated building. “You see that.” He asked, pointing at one of the windows. Kincaid turned and tilted her head. 

“See what?” She asked, Gage narrowing his eye. He could have sworn he saw someone in one of the upper story windows, gazing down at them in a white blouse and a red bow. “I don't see anything-” Kincaid muttered, moving around to be closer to Gage’s point of view. He felt her hot breath on his neck and Gage straightened up. A quick flush rose to his cheeks and he stepped away. 

“Coulda swore I saw someone in there.” Gage narrowed his eye, moving his hands to the rifle that hung just behind him. “I don’t think goin’ in there without backup is a good idea, Boss.” 

Kincaid looked him up and down and then back at the mansion. “Alright.” she told him, nodding. He looked back at her. “We’ll come back with some pack or some ops, clean house.” She motioned to the road. He expected some sort of resistance, some sort of sass or how they could handle it on their own. When there was none of that he was stunned stupid. “What?” she asked, Gage just staring at her again. 

“I uh.. Just not used to people listening when I say shit like that, I suppose.” He followed behind her as they went back down the road. Kincaid looked at him concerned, Gage keeping his eye off of her. The road was on flat land for a good few miles it looked like, heading towards the hills where the power plant was nestled, lotta territory to cover, but a good route to Galactic Zone. 

“Why not? You give sound advice?” Kincaid sounded perplexed, Gage looking at her finally. She seemed genuinely confused, he almost felt bad for thinking she looked awful cute like that. He didn’t feel bad though. “Isn’t that like, your whole shtick though? Advising people to do the smart thing?”

“You wanna guess how many bosses I have had to yank back from gun fire because they decided I was just worrying too much and they had it handled?” Gage asked, keeping his head on a swivel. It was way too open for his taste, easy to get picked off. 

Kincaid made a noise and he looked over, she was frowning. “That’s bullshit.” Kincaid finally told him, hands on her hips. “Just bullshit. They trust your advice enough to make you their second and then they turn around and ignore it. Thats fucked up!” He quirked an eyebrow at her, and she looked at him. It was likely he was going to have to the same with her, if the sentry bot was any indication. “Like take Colter for example! He had it damn good here, you know how many raiders I’ve nabbed for bounty who would chop off their hands for a place like Nuka-World?” Gage shook his head and she let out a laugh. “More than I can count! I thought the fiends were bad with their little vault- oh hell no, a place like this?” she gestured and Gage chuckled slightly, Kincaid looking over at him. 

“I told you, Colter was an asshole.” Gage shrugged and she huffed, Gage looking back to the road. “I tried to give him everything and he decided he liked chems and booze more than money and the starts of a damn empire. More than the goddamn dream.” Gage shrugged and Kincaid looked at him, narrowing her eyes. 

“You two were friends, weren’t you?” Kincaid asked, Gage stopping in his tracks and looking at her. “The way you talk about Colter, it sounds like you two had a thing going, and then he turned around and was a complete dick.” Gage paled slightly, thoughts flashing to early days by a campfire. Of laughter and caps and when buisness was damn good. He shook it away, sighing and shoving his hands in his pockets. 

“You ain’t wrong.” Gage told her, shrugging. “The closest I came to trusting anyone; was trusting him to be Overboss.” She shook her head again, if Kincaid kept doing that she was going to shake her head right off. He watched her as she frowned and stomped her foot a little bit. 

“That’s such bullshit.” She muttered again. Gage chuckled and they walked in silence for a while, Kincaid obviously stewing. She perked up an hour or two later when the power plant came more into view, “What’s that?” she asked, Gage stopping and rolling his shoulders. 

He wrinkled his nose as he gazed at the building up in the hills- the towers seemed familiar and if he remembered what the scouts said... “That would be the power plant. Wouldn’t get too close, got a lot of deathclaws around these parts.” Gage said, looking around. Not too far down the road was the parking lot that Shank had mentioned was a deathclaw nest, and muties liked to patrol the hills around the plant itself. Kincaid took another step forward, huffing as she took out her rifle.  
“And what’s that park?” Kincaid asked, pointing to her right. Gage looked over and squinted, he couldn’t make out much over the wall. It was probably Galactic Zone, if Gage remembered the maps right. Honestly though, he wasn’t the one with a map on his arm. He looked over at Kincaid as she used her rifle to scout out the parking lot down the road.

“Fuck if I know- you got the map, Boss.” Kincaid looked up and the realization dawned on her. She made a little “oh” noise and looked down at her arm, then blushed a little. Gage watched her, coming up beside her shoulder to get a look at the map. Her face got a little more red and he couldn’t help but smile.

She took a step away from him and straightened out her coat with her free hand. “You weren’t kidding when you said it was a deathclaw resort.” Kincaid muttered, Gage looking ahead and nodding. “Fucking infested.” she grumbled, taking a right and tromping across uneven ground. Gage followed close behind, trying to navigate the uneven terrain. 

They had come to the north entrance of Galactic Zone, keeping to the outskirts of the ticket stands. There were several dead turrets, and robot husks everywhere. “Careful.” Gage warned, putting a hand on her chest reflexively as she stepped forward. She shot him a dirty look as he took point, moving slowly with his rifle up towards the gates. Kincaid followed behind, keeping on his blind side. 

He really was thankful for that.

He moved through the ticket gate, coming out of his skin as the Nuka Cola jingle blared loudly from the speakers. Kincaid grabbed him by the back of his armor and hauled him back into the little plaza. Eyebots started to filter out of Galactic Zone, each playing the Nuka Cola jingle loudly, firing off their little lasers at the pair. “What the fu-”

Gage didn’t finish, getting shot in the arm by one of the lasers. His flesh sizzled and the air was filled with the smell of burning meat. He scrambled back as Kincaid fired off her rifle, picking off eyebots. Gage clutched at his arm as the squad of bots descended, looming. Kincaid pulled out a grenade and didn’t bother pulling the pin as she threw it- 

“What are you doing!?” Gage asked, watching the grenade make an arc. Before he could register, she shot the grenade mid air, filling the area with static that made his skin crawl. Gage backed up further as Kincaid rushed forward, hauling her shotgun off of her hip and finishing the eyebots affected by the electromagnetic pulse.

Kincaid surveyed her handy work, noticing one of the bots rebooting. She jumped on it, holding on as she was hauled into the air. “GAGE-” She called out, Gage rushing over and grabbing her by the ankles as the bot started to ascend. He felt his feet leave the ground and inside he was panicking like a motherfucker. The Eyebot sputtered and shut down, dropping Gage and Kincaid down in a heap. Her knee hit Gage right in his gut, knocking the air out of him.  
He rolled and wheezed as Kincaid got up, bracing her hand on his face. “BoSS!” He growled, trying to come to. 

“We got company!” she called, pulling out her pistols and shooting at six protectrons lumbering over to them. Gage looked up and felt his guts go cold. This was why they hadn’t tried to take Galactic Zone yet. This is why no scouts returned. He got up and ran behind Kincaid, wrapping an arm around her waist and running past the ticket gate. She elbowed him in the neck, still firing at the bots. 

She kneed him in the side, kicking as he ran. What had he just told her not even an hour prior? Stupid bosses, stupid situations, danger that could get them both fucking killed. He dipped down and grabbed her shotgun, keeping pace as he carried her out. He got a hand in his face for his efforts, Kincaid kicking and squirming as she tried to get out of his grip. He made it to the edge of the plaza before letting her go- the bots not going farther than the ticket gates. 

“The FUCK you think you doin’?!” Kincaid asked, shoving Gage as he caught his breath. He stumbled and looked at her, eye wide. 

“Keeping you from getting killed!” He shouted right back, puffing up his chest. 

“What makes you think you can just GRAB me like that?!” She snarled, shoving him again. Gage resisted the urge to pull his gun on her, instead trying to think of a coherent answer that wasn’t more yelling. More yelling would just escalate, make things more volatile. She didn’t like to be touched, he could understand that- but sometimes you lose precious seconds that meant the difference between life and death by hesitating to call out a retreat. 

And besides, she didn’t respect any sort of personal space back at the Red Rocket. Or at the warehouse. She was a hypocrite.

“What you got to say, huh!? I should shoot you right here-” Kincaid snarled, getting in his face and pressing her revolver under his chin. He bared his teeth and he pulled a shiv from his belt buckle and pressed it to the seam in her armor, deep enough to make a point. Her eyes widened slightly and he took some sick satisfaction in that. 

“I was TRYING to make sure we both didn’t get FRIED. BOSS.” Gage growled, Kincaid pressing closer. What kind of nut case pressed closer to the knife pressed to their gut. Gage kept his eye locked on hers, knowing full well that if he looked away he would lose this argument. She stared right back, not blinking. 

They stayed like that for a minute until there was a beeping behind Kincaid, both of them whirled around on it and Ed-e beeped in confusion. Kincaid growled and Gage replaced the shiv into its little sheath behind his belt buckle. “As I was sayin’-” Gage looked at her, nostrils flared and eyes narrowing. “I was making sure we didn’t die to a wave of protectrons.” 

“Use your goddamn words next time!” Kincaid hissed, putting the revolver back in its holster. Gage rolled his shoulder and shot her one last dirty look before examining the burn on his arm. It looked a lot worse than it actually was, but it was still nasty. He dropped his ruck and dug around for some bandages as Kincaid conversed with her bot. He mocked her under his breath as he rubbed some salve on the burn, wincing before pressing a sticky bandage to it. He rolled his shoulder to test and yeah- it hurt, but it was workable. 

Gage sucked in a breath and Kincaid came over, fucking around on her pipboy. “Let's get back to Nuka Town.” she grumbled, Gage sneering as she took lead. He glared at the back of her head, following her sullenly. It was a half hour of tense silence as they walked back to town, Gage looking up as they approached. 

There were the Pack Animals.

They didn’t look amused.  
Gage let out a heavy sigh as they got closer, Mason coming out from the little crowd. “Where’s the ATVs, Boss?” He asked, Kincaid putting her hands on her hips. She puffed up and Gage hung back. She could fight this battle for all he cared. Between the burn on his arm, the burns on his back, and the bruises forming on his ribs and neck, Gage did not care in the slightest if she got herself in trouble. Besides, her and Mason had been so buddy buddy before. Let her learn the consequences of her actions.

“One of them is ready for retrieval outside of Kiddie Kingdom, got swarmed by ghouls before we could drive off-” Kincaid started, Mason cocking an eyebrow. “The second got shot with acid by a lurk queen and then flung at us as we fled.” She rubbed her nose, not seeming phased. “Blew up something pretty.”

“So we’re down two ATVs, what else were you and the clown doing these last two days?” Mason asked, stepping forward. She smiled, hooking her thumbs in her belt as if she wasn’t nose to chest with one of the most vicious men on the east coast. She had balls, Gage really could give her that. 

“We found two more potential places to make into bases, killed a deathclaw and a sentry bot, started the take over of Galactic Zone-” Oh she was bullshitting there, they just got their asses handed to them by the bots and didn’t make it six feet inside. Gage kept his mouth shut though, last thing she needed was to be drawn and quartered by the Pack. Mason snorted and Kincaid narrowed her eyes, walking forward and poking the mountain of a man right in his chest. Gage sucked in a breath and froze, eye wide. 

“And what have YOU done today, Mason?!” She snarled, taking a step forward. Mason held his ground. “You sat on your ass supervising animals fighting for scraps while Gage and I worked our asses off, walked our boot leather thin, and risked life and limb for raiders who won’t lift a FINGER to make their situation better-” she sucked in a breath and Mason opened his mouth. “NAHAH- I AM NOT DONE.” Kincaid snarled, snapping with her hand. Mason’s mouth shut with a slight clatter, Kincaid stepping forward. “You can suck it up and take the losses in the name of expansion or I can walk out of here and leave all you fucks to die! YOU see what your chances are versus the Operators and the Disciples.” Kincaid shoved past him, Mason taking a shocked step backwards.

Gage trailed after her, making eye contact with Mason as he pushed passed. He couldn’t help but chuckle quietly, following Kincaid as she navigated Nuka Town. They wove through all of the trash and raiders, making a beeline for Fizztop. Kincaid got to the lift first, pressing the button to call it down. Gage jogged to her, Kincaid rounding on him. She shoved him away and Gage took a step back, throwing his hands up. 

“Stay away from me.” She snarled, Gage swallowing nervously as she stepped on the lift. She hit the button and Ed-e beeped at Gage as the lift went up. He just stared after it, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops. When she made it he pulled his pack of cigs out, sighing at the empty cardboard. He tossed the trash aside and turned, throwing open the doors to the Fizztop lobby. 

It was a dark lobby to what used to be the Fizztop motel, strewn all throughout the mountain. While the disciples inhabited the hollowed mountain’s first ten levels, the thirteen above that were all defunct rooms, kitchens, laundromats. The water was all cut off to most of them- they had been in the middle of remodeling when the bombs fell.  

He made his way through the darkened room to the single working elevator, sighing as he waited for the doors to open.

And he waited.

And waited.

Gage pulled his hand down his face, letting out an exhausted sigh. 

Stairs it was.

Gage considered sleeping in one of the bedrooms in the hotel, but he had no idea what critters or bugs might be inside. It had been so long since any of the raiders had gone in and looted the place. He steeled himself. He wanted to sleep in his own bed god damn it. It was only forty something flights of stairs, he could manage that right? 

Half an hour later Gage hauled himself into the inside of the Fizztop Grille. He sat down and pulled off his boots, stretching his feet. He let out a sigh and sank into his chair, closing his eye. His armor dug into his side, making him uncomfortable in his seat. He let out a heavy huff and sat up, working on the belts that secured his armor. He squirmed out of the roll cage, the metal thudding on the floor. He sagged in his chair and closed his eye, frowning. 

He was hearing frantic beeping, like an alarm. Or a worried eye-bot. He opened his eye and looked over at the door, huffing. He got up, stiff and sore as he walked to the shut door. His hand hovered over the door knob. The bot was beeping crazy like. Gage was surprised that the door wasn’t locked as he walked in. 

Kincaid was completely blitzed out with three containers of jet around her. She let out a happy sigh, all stretched out on the couch. She was in such a state of undress that it was obscene, her clothes strewn from one end of the Grille to the other. She sat there blitzed out on the couch in nothing but her small black panties. Gage looked away, the blood rushing to his face. The more Gage saw, the colder his blood ran. He spotted two empty tins of mentats, an empty med-x syringe, and a bottle of bourbon held loosely beside her. Only God knew what else he’d find if he looked any closer. 

Ed-e turned and beeped at Gage, floating over him. It kept beeping at him, bobbing and weaving. He watched it for a second before his attention turned back to Kincaid. He moved to the lift power and disabled it, hands shaking. She took enough jet to knock out a brahmin, and mixing it with everything else? His mind ran circles as he made his way back across the grille, bare feet not making noise against the tile. He moved to her side, gently putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Boss?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh, sorry this one is late! I worked 15 days in a row and I couldn't bring myself to edit the chapter until it was a day late! shit might start updating slower depending on what my schedule looks like. gonna aim for 5k a week- but we'll see.


	7. Tightrope

I t really wasn’t in Gage’s job description to clean up after other raiders- or his bosses for that matter. 

The water started running warm, Gage shoving a plug in the sink and throwing as many clean rags as he could get his hands on in the basin. He ignored the dull ache in his muscles, pushing himself to dig through Colter’s laundry to find something he could wrap Kincaid up in. Ed-E was following him around, beeping like some sort of anxiety ridden alarm clock. It kept poking and prodding at him and Gage finally stood up, fixing Ed-E with a look that suggested he was one more prod away from scrapping the eye-bot.  
  
“Do it again.” Gage growled, Ed-E beeping frantically and swaying. “I  ain’t gonna wrap her up in something covered in piss and shit and fuck knows what else.” Gage growled, Ed-E hovering back and playing a recording of someone saying “ew”. Gage snorted, grabbing a sheet and inspecting it. 

It was mostly white, a little stained but it smelled fine. To be fair it wasn’t like raiders really DID laundry, they kinda just replaced what ever they didn’t want to bother cleaning. 

Well except The Operators. But they were weird. 

Gage pulled the sheet out of the pile and wrapped it up around his arms, making his way back out to the patio. He found Kincaid still on the couch, toppled over slightly and shivering  on the couch .  Gage paused, swallowing hard. He reached around, sitting her up so he could check her over. She was still breathing, and he could feel her heart beat even if it was way faster then it should have been. He sat on the coffee table, taking a trembling breath and frowning as he ran his hand down his face.

He’d only seen the top of her tattoo before- a massive cow skull right across her chest and between her tits- with the horns following her collarbone. It was inked with delicate lines and laying in a bed of pastel flowers. It was a beautiful piece, Gage could admit that. It wasn’t her only tattoo either, she had a deathclaw horn and roses on her shoulder blade, and an antler in a bed of lilies on her ribs. Those had to have been expensive. 

Ed-E beeped and Gage came back to task,  just about coming out of his skin. God he was exhausted. He wrapped her up in the sheet, taking care to tuck her in. He wrapped his arms around her, scooping her up off the couch… or more- he tried anyways.

She was fucking heavy. 

Right. She had metal bones. Of course. Gage grunted and steeled himself, trying again. He hauled her up and let out a breath after tossing her over his shoulder- his bad shoulder with the burn as he realized too late as pain arced from the wound. He swore loudly and Ed-E beeped frantically, zooming around him like an annoying bee. Gage adjusted Kincaid, and knocked Ed-E away with his free hand. He worked his way to the double doors, carrying Kincaid into the grille. “If you want to help, go grab one of the chairs from the table.” Gage told the bot, Ed-E zipping into the Grille’s lobby. Gage waited as the eye-bot brought back the chair, lifting it with worrying ease. 

Well- it worried Gage. How much could that little bot lift? Could it pick up Gage and just chuck him off the patio? Gage frowned and Ed-E beeped at him and dropped the seat with a clatter, bringing him back to the present. “Thanks.” Gage said dryly, carefully sitting Kincaid down in the seat. She hadn’t reacted at all- if she hadn’t been breathing he would have assumed she was dead.

“I need you to go get Mackenzie.” Gage told Ed-E, who beeped at him. “Mackenzie. The doctor. You know, in the market place?” Gage asked, Ed-E beeping and turning to Kincaid and then back to Gage. “Go get the fucking doctor.” Gage growled, Ed-E beeping frantically and twitching in the air. It zoomed back and forth, Gage watching it and resisting the urge to just shoot it down. “Look you fucking nuisance.  I ain’t know shit for shit about what you’re sayin’. I don’t speak bot. What I do fucking know is that if we don’t get Kincaid to a doctor or she don’t wake up soon- its a bad fuckin’ sign.” Gage growled, Ed-E pausing in air and doing a circle. 

Its lights flashed, a man’s voice coming out of its speakers. “I won’t leave you mija,” Gage twitched and let out a huff. He looked back at Kincaid, then to the bot. He sucked in a breath and counted back from ten- trying to control his temper.

“Listen. I can’t go get the doctor- if I do, its gonna draw too much attention.” Gage tried to explain, Ed-E beeping at him. “We’re lucky she’s breathing,  you understand that? ”  Gage asked, glaring at the eye-bot. Ed-E seemed distressed, shaking and trembling in the air like it was going to just stop flying all together. Gage pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head before turning back to the si nk. The bot was useless- it wasn’t going to go get the doc. He’d have to send for Bridgeman in the morning- anything sooner would raise too much suspicion and attract too much attention. If he did it in the morning he could make it sound like a routine check after being out- Kincaid had mentioned the deathclaw after all. It would let Gage do some damage control and make it sound like they were just getting ready to go back to the Galactic Zone. 

He wrung out the rags, making sure the hot water wouldn’t burn Kincaid. His thoughts all ground to a halt as he knelt down in front of Kincaid. She looked almost peaceful, all wrapped up comfortable like in the sheet. Her breathing had slowed down to something that resembled normal, and she didn’t look like she was in pain. He bit his lip and his heart skipped a beat as he wiped away the sweat and grime from her brow. Fucking jesus he had it bad. He wanted to blame it on anything else- the whiskey, the adrenaline, anything, anything but what it really was.

He was completely infatuated, he was infatuated with this waster who waltzed in and murked Colter like it was nothing. Everything about her was becoming endearing, from the weird way she moved to the strange way she’d talk, how she’d just change gears and change subjects as whimsy took her. he’d only known her for three fucking days, three days and he was almost too far gone. He had to nip this shit in the bud before he went soft. The raiders could smell it, and if any of the gangs got even a whiff it was good night for both Kincaid and himself. Nisha would rip them apart, she’d skin Gage and rip Kincaid’s teeth out one by one. Kincaid had already ticked Nisha off, it wouldn’t take but even the suggestion of weakness to trigger a chain of torture and violence and-

Gage paused, choking slightly. He was not going to keep on that train of thought. 

He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, resuming cleaning up Kincaid. He made sure her injection sites were clean, switching rags as he went. He pulled back her hair and ignored the buzzing eye-bot that was not being any sort of help. He frowned as he looked over her hair, so soft and already tangling up. He didn’t want it to get like the matted mess on his head- it would be a damn shame. He dumped his rag into the sink and drained it. He ran clean (well, relatively) water and then padded out to the patio, making his way to the overboss’ bed. He nosed around in Kincaid’s sparse belongings, looking for a hair brush or the like. Finding nothing, he turned to the abyss that was her bag.

She could deal with it in the morning. He did not have two fucks to rub together as he dumped it to the floor. The eye-bot took offense though, playing a clip of a woman going “rude!” and circling around he pawed around the scrap they had gathered, the rations, the stims and chems- jesus she had a lot of shit in that bag. No fucking wonder it weighted a ton. Gage grumbled and complained as he worked his way through the mess, sorting shit as he went. He paused, squinting as he pulled a small bag. He opened it up and there was a comb. It was a wide toothed one, but would work for what Gage wanted.

God all he wanted to do was lay down. His feet ached and back throbbed every time he bent or twisted and the bruises that bloomed up his sides from Kincaid’s knees just made old hurts worse, not to mention the cracked ribs from Colter were acting up from pushing himself. He sucked in a deep breath and winced, Ed-E beeping at him. He shoved the eye-bot away and pushed open the doors to the grille proper. He took note that the door was broken, he’d have to get someone up to fix it after they’d both gotten patched up.

Returning to Kincaid’s side, he checked to make sure she was still breathing (she was) and that her heart was still beating (slower at least). He rubbed his neck, letting out a huff and stretching slightly. His muscles screamed at him to sit down, but he knew if he did he wasn’t going to be getting back up. He pressed on, taking Kincaid’s curls in hand and trying to gently comb them out.

He set the comb on the counter when he finished getting rid of the tangles, face red as a beet. Her hair was so soft, and even after the sweat and gun powder and everything else they had been through it smelled like some sort of flower, nicer then most of what Gage smelled in his day to day life. He shook his head and went back into the restaurant, nicking one of the shoelaces from his boots. As he returned Ed-E beeped at him, Gage looking over at it. “you gonna be useful and go get the doc yet?” he asked, the robot turning around so it wouldn’t have to look at him. He snorted and pulled Kincaid’s hair back, tying it with his shoelace.

He wrung out another rag and wiped himself down, the warmth feeling amazing on his aching muscles. He palmed at his good eye and removed his eye patch, setting it on the counter top. He had to decide what to do next, he couldn’t just leave her in a rickety old chair and go lay down to sleep.

Well, he could.

But it didn’t feel right. He palmed at his good eye again and yawned, shaking his head. This was not part of the job description. He was supposed to be the second in command, not the nanny. He huffed, shaking his head. He’d done shit like this for Colter, for Connor too. What made Kincaid any different? He shook his head, letting out a low chuckle. Ed-E beeped inquisitively, floating beside him. “I’m a god damn fool.” Gage told the bot, pushing off the counter and going back to the laundry pile. He dug around until he found a halfway decent quilt, it was thick and heavy and would keep her warm. He shook it out and brought it up to his nose, squinting. It didn’t smell bad, just musty. He shrugged and threw it over his arm.

He wrapped Kincaid up in it, adjusting her into something that at least looked more comfortable. He could call Bridgeman in the morning, make sure there was no permanent damage. Get his arm checked out too, and maybe his back while the doc was at it. Gage decided it was going to be the sort of day where they rested, took stock of what they had, make some notes, get some ammo. Things that could be done from the comfort of a chair or a bed. Gage sank down and sat beside Kincaid, letting out a long sigh. He leaned on Kincaid’s leg, staring off into the middle distance. He was so god damn tired. He was damn near too tired to fall asleep.

The eye-bot floated into his vision, beeping like it was worried. He blinked slowly, Ed-E lowering down and just about landing on his legs. It beeped over and over again, poking at his gut with its little robotic arm. “I’m fine, just resting.” Gage muttered, rubbing his face. He shoved the eyebot away and it came back, poking him again. “I’m a god damn old man, let me rest.” Gage shoved off of Kincaid, Ed-E beeping happily. He groaned and got to his feet, his joints cracking as he righted himself.

He looked over at Kincaid and it dawned on him.

She was fucking naked still. Naked as the god damn day she was born, all between the air and her was the sheet and the quilt. Gage could feel the heat rising to his cheeks, and his eye flicked over to the eye-bot. It beeped and he looked back at Kincaid. He walked over to the laundry pile again, digging around in Colter’s shirts. He found one that was clean and he carefully slipped Kincaid into it, making sure to handle her gently. He lifted her, grunting as he tucked her close to his chest. He moved slowly towards his bed, deciding on the way that she could sleep there and he’d just sleep in the chair.

Soft.

He was going so god damn soft. At least there was no one there to see it. Except that eye-bot but its not like it could tell people. He hoped. Oh god. He looked over and it beeped, his blood running cold. “don’t say shit.” he told Ed-E, who beeped at him. He narrowed his eye at the bot, setting Kincaid down on his dingy mattress. She hummed and her hands clung to his tank-top. Gage paused and gently removed her grip, tucking her in on the bed. He looked back up at Ed-E, who tilted. “Don’t say shit to anyone, they’ll think I’ve gone soft.” Ed-E beeped and he decided to take that as a confirmation. He straightened out and let out a groan, popping his back. “If any of these raiders catch wind of this, they’ll skin us both alive and scrap you for parts.” Gage flopped back down in his chair, stretching out his legs and relaxing as much as he could manage. Ed-E beeped a few more times, poking at him. He couldn’t bring himself to care though. His eye drifted shut and he let the darkness take him.

His sleep was deep, and he dreamed of petal soft lips and feather light touches- interrupted by something brushing against his cheek.

His eye shot open and Kincaid recoiled, Gage sitting up. She clutched the sheet to her chest, frozen as they stared at each other. She was the first to speak, ducking back behind the sheet. “Sorry! You looked terribly cold, I was gonna get that quilt around you so you didn’t wake up shivering. I mean you obviously took care of me it was the least I could do-”

Gage sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he relaxed again. “Boss its fine, you just startled me is all.” He pulled himself up, resisting the urge to complain as his muscles screamed at him to remain still and his head throbbed. “I’m more worried about you, the fuck were you thinking?” he asked, looking at Kincaid. She had shut up, pulling the sheet around her.

She mumbled something and he frowned, Kincaid looking away. “I wasn’t thinking.” she repeated, shaking her head and pulling the sheet around her. “I wasn’t thinking and I fucked up. Again. I always fucking do this.” she went to start on a self deprecating rant and Gage put his hand up.

“don’t even start, that shit ain't gonna help.” Gage told her, Kincaid looking at him with wide eyes. Like some radstag caught in headlights, her mouth hanging open slightly. He shifted and couldn’t hold back the pained grunt, Kincaid flinching. “Listen Kincaid, I ain’t about to tell you how to live your life- beyond ya know, not leaving Nuka World, and not getting us both killed- but its obvious you got a damn problem. I fuckin’ called it from that first damn morning.” She looked down and he continued. “and I ain’t sayin’ I told you so but-” Kincaid looked up and narrowed her eyes, Gage smiling. “I told you so.”

Kincaid pulled her hands down her face, shaking her head. “Porter, I-” His name on her lips hit him like a god damn jolt, sending shivers up his spine. He wasn’t ever fond of his name, honestly- it was why he went by his last name, but hearing it out of her? He sure as hell did not mind one bit. “I’m sorry.” Kincaid looked back up at him, biting her lip. Gage adjusted and she watched his every move like a hawk, eyes unblinking. He frowned and she looked away, pulling her knees to her chest.

It was awkward. A silence broken by Ed-E’s jets and the rustle of fabric as Kincaid shifted. “I-” Gage started, Kincaid looking up. “Uh. You don’t have to apologize.” he mumbled, rubbing his face. Lancing pain arced from his brow, causing him to flinch. Everything was so god damn loud, and the florescent lights were too fuckin’ bright. “Listen Caid, I ain’t about to go soft on you-” Too late for that. “But I ain’t gonna rip you to high hell for makin’ a mistake either. Shit happens. You gotta buck up, toss the fuckin’ chems, and do better.” he shrugged and she looked away.

She fidgeted with the sheet, Gage watching her. She had something to say, and she didn’t seem to know how. He pushed out of his chair, startling her. He could feel her eyes on his back as he made his way into the kitchen, which was blissfully dark. He was navigating entirely on memory, but if his memory served- He dug around the cupboards for any food Colter might have left, when he didn’t find much he went into the pantry. He carefully counted steps until he found the loose floorboard, the tell tale creak giving it away. He got down on his knees and pried the wood up, opening Colter’s personal stash of snacks. The dumbass thought Gage didn’t know- thought he was so sneaky. Underneath the floor was a trove of snack cakes and chips, Gage grabbing what he could carry and not bothering to close the stash- not like the fuck would be needing it anyways.

He returned to Kincaid with his arms full of junk food, tossing it down onto the bed. She jumped and looked over the haul, eyes wide as she lifted the box of snack cakes he grabbed. Gage flopped back down in the chair, reaching over and pulling up the quilt around him. “Talk.” he told her, Kincaid looking back up at him. “You got shit to say. Say it.” probably not the best way to get her to talk, but if Gage was being honest- talking wasn’t his strength either.

She looked down at the snack cakes and picked at the plastic wrap. “I didn’t leave the mojave because of an old employer.” she started, Gage leaning on his hand. “I left because I was trapped.” Gage settled in, this was going to be a long one. She tore the plastic, sucking in a breath.

“I was with a man, he was gentle and kind at first-” Gage frowned as Kincaid picked at the plastic. “he bought me everything I ever wanted, guns, dresses, chems, everything. My companions had gone their own way, scattering across the desert. He was there for me though, a hand at the small of my back and a good conversation beside me at the bar. No one was surprised when we got intimate.” She looked at the wall, thumb running up and down the box of snack cakes. “it was fine for a while, he worried though- about the bounty hunting and the safety of me going up against fiends and rouge kahns and shit like that. So he started asking me to stay in vegas more. I didn’t have a home so he opened up his mansion- he gave me a whole wing of it, and people to help me sell my scrap and clean my gear. It was good, for a while.”

“But, I missed my friends. I asked after them and they all refused any invites I gave, any requests to meet with me, I was so lonely,” Gage watched her intently, how her eyes drifted to the box, how her grip would go from soft to crushing, folding the cardboard. “I was so lonely and they left me. So I confided in him and he told me that I should meet HIS friends. That was the start of it, I’d get dolled up, pop some mentats, go to his little parties, schmooze with his friends- it got to the point where I just didn’t leave vegas any more, I didn’t even go to freeside.” Kincaid pushed her stray hairs back, tears welling up in her eyes. Ed-E beeped and she nodded at the bot, swallowing hard. “I didn’t visit anyone, I didn’t go out anymore, help the followers, nothing. It was like I was… I was gone. Everything that made me, me? Gone.” Kincaid counted on her fingers, sighing. Ed-E interjected and she hummed, shaking her head. “it was what? Almost a year I think? If Ed-E’s memory is correct it was 14 months, even worse honestly. By the end of it he was controlling my every move, keeping me confined with chems and gifts- and if that didn’t work by brute force.” she swallowed hard, shaking her head. “I had to get out, so I tried to get myself clean. I tried so hard. He was using the chems to keep me in his grip and I- I just let him.”

“Boss”

“I’m sorry its so long- I’m not done.” Kincaid looked at Gage, tears streaming down her face. “I found out later that it wasn’t for lack of trying, my friends were trying to get to me but he would turn them away every time. He wanted me entirely for himself. Entirely for his entertainment. I waited and I saved the chems, stealing bullets and keys and bobbin’ pins, anything I could get my hands on. I waited and waited, trying to clean myself up so I wouldn’t get away only to end up laying in a ditch craving psycho. I did everything I could, and when he left for the NCR and left me alone in the mansion with only my jailers?” Gage sat up, crossing his arms. “I ran. I killed every god damn son of a bitch in that mansion and hopped the first caravan I found leaving Vegas. Made my way across the old world, Ended up in the wealth, still running from everything. I heard a broadcast over the radio, followed the signal and ended up in the transit center. You’d think I’d know better after the madre but-”

Gage watched her hands crush the box of snack cakes and he swallowed nervously. “I don’t blame you Porter, if that's what you’re worried about- you didn’t trap me here, you’re just as much a prisoner as I am.” Kincaid said softly, Gage watching her face. He had nothing of worth to really say, and he was struggling to get something that sounded sympathetic out. He was a raider god damn it, not some pre-war therapist here to fix her problems.

He wanted to help her though, the idea of the sort of pain she had to deal with at the hands of some fuck hurt Gage deep. A weird hurt, mixed with anger. He shook it off and sighed, Kincaid watching him.

He opened his mouth, then closed it- he was thinking hard on what he wanted to say. “Boss.” he began, pinching the bridge of his nose. This migraine was going to be the death of him, he couldn’t think right and everything was so god damn bright. Between that and Ed-E he was sure his head was going to end up split open, if not from the pain it was going to be by his own hand. “Boss, if you want help. I’m here for you. I’ve helped people get clean before.” Not a lie, all gangs go through it. The profits are down, the chems are the first cost that gets cut, people go through withdrawal and the bosses gotta keep sharp. Gage had seen it a thousand times, he’d probably see it more if he survived Nuka World. “and I- I don’t mind helping.” Her, he didn’t mind helping her specifically. Just her. He resented every other fuck he’d helped get clean (only for them to drive right back into chems the moment the profits were up again). “if you put in the work for it, I can try and help keep you clean.” it was the best she was gonna get out of him he decided, it got the point across.

At least, he was pretty sure it did by how she lit up. “you want to help me?” she asked, sounding surprised as hell. Gage flinched as Kincaid threw her arms around him and she looked back at him. “are you alright?” she asked, Gage nodding. She pulled away and tilted her head, staring at him.

“yeah boss, I just got a fuckin’ headache something fierce.” he sighed and she got up, checking over his head. He went to pull away from her but when their eyes locked he froze, like a damn fool. He hadn’t noticed that her eyes were two different colors, different shades of hazel that he couldn’t tear his gaze away from. One of them was significantly lighter, but muddled with what looked like cataracts. He blinked and she ran a thumb across his cheek. It all came rushing back like a crashing wave and he pulled away, face heating up.

Kincaid looked worried, moving from his face to his neck. “shit you got hit yesterday didn’t you? I didn’t even realize-” He felt her pause and he realized that she probably just put it together that the bruising on his neck was from her elbowing him. She froze and he looked back at her. Oh no, she looked like she was going to cry again. If she started crying a second time that was going to be the end of Gage, he was not equip to deal with anything like that. “I’m sorry Gage. I shouldn’t have hurt you, you were just trying to make sure we both lived.” she muttered, pulling away the quilt and looking over the bandage on his shoulder. Ed-E beeped and Kincaid nodded thoughtfully, looking towards the bot. “yeah, but I still hurt him and he didn’t deserve it.” She peeled away the field dressing and he grunted as her hands went over the burn. She hummed and Gage winced, resisting the urge to smack her hands away.

“I’ll be right back, let me go get a stim.” she told him, pulling away and all but sprinting to the patio. Gage covered his mouth, swallowing hard as his cheeks burned. Her eyes were burned into his brain, the soft curve of her lips seared into the back of his mind. God everything about her just ripped him to shreds.

She returned with the stim and injected it into the wound, Gage flinching as the stinging sensation took over. She pressed her hand to his chest, keeping him still as the medicine worked. Stung like a bitch, but at least he wouldn’t have to deal with it later. Kincaid watched it as the skin knit back together, Ed-E coming over and scanning it. The bot beeped a few times and she nodded, talking softly. “Ed-E says you need rest. You were up most of last night taking care of me.” That was the understatement of the year as far as Gage was concerned, he could sleep for a week and still be tired. He went to move and she kept him still, going over his arms and looking for anything else that needed attention.

She winced at the bruising that had bloomed up his ribs, Gage shrugging. “You landed on me, shit happens.” he was frank about it like it was only a fact of life, Kincaid shaking her head. She got up, going into the kitchen and returning with a cool rag. Gage jumped when she pressed it on the bruise, not being able to repress a shiver.

“Sorry.” she mumbled, he shook his head and shrugged. She pulled the quilt back up around him, sitting on the bed. “if you want to sleep I can move, I can sit in the chair if you want-” He shook his head, shifting.

“I’m perfectly fine right here boss.” he told her, she tilted her head and watched him. She still didn’t blink very often but he was getting used to it. It was just one of those things she did. He made a show of snuggling down under the quilt, stretching out his legs and letting out what he hoped sounded like a contented sigh. She looked unconvinced, looking him up and down and raising an eyebrow.

“You don’t look fine, you look like you’re uncomfortable and in pain.” she informed him, he shrugged. She wasn’t wrong honestly. Between the lights, Ed-E’s jets and hum, and the mixture of emotions from this whole ordeal Gage was horribly uncomfortable, but it was nothing new. If he was honesty with himself, he’d take this any day over having to dodge Colter’s drunken rages.

Or having his headache so bad he had to crawl into a dark corner and hope to god no one found him while he hurled his guts up into a bucket. Hoping to god no Disciples came across him and took advantage-

he swallowed hard, repressing a shiver as he stopped that particular line of thought. Kincaid was still watching him though, and no doubt she saw. She picked up his pillow and went right back into fussing over him. She tucked it behind his head and then went into inspecting the bad side of his face. He squirmed and she leaned forward. “Just got a headache, nothing for you to worry over.” he reassured her as she ran a thumb over the rough flesh that had healed over his empty eye socket. He could feel the heat in his face but god he never wanted her to stop.

She inspected it and tilted her head, frowning. “how’d this happen?” she asked, Gage coming out of his reverie. The question had hit him like a stray bullet. He stuttered for a moment, trying to form the words. He didn’t want to just shrug her off, though it was his first instinct. He could have told her about Connor, about the ambush and how she shouldn’t trust anyone (not that she needed to relearn that lesson if her story was anything to go by). But he bit it all back, he didn’t need to drop all of that one her, she didn’t need to know.

“I uh. I got hit in the face.” he muttered lamely, looking away. “baseball bat with barbed wire and shit. It took most my eye and a waste doc took the rest, let it heal over.” He hadn’t told anyone about that before, no one had ever bothered to ask to be fair. She looked it over and sighed, shaking her head. He just watched her, unable to formulate words.

Gage wanted nothing more then for her to only focus on him, to pay attention to only him. Parks be damned, he wanted to stay here with her gentle touches and soft voice, he wanted to run his fingers through her hair and press his lips to her forehead. A thousand soft things ran through his head as she inspected his scars. The realization hit him again, just as hard as the first time.

Aw fuck.

He had it real damn bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof, sorry its late again. Editing took a long time and a single scene ended up taking up most of the chapter. I'm just glad I hit my goal of 5k for this week, I've had a lot of stuff going on and being able to make that makes me feel pretty good.


	8. No Good

Gage woke to vague voices filtering in from the Fizztop patio. There were no less then three of them and his gun was in his hand before his brain had time to catch up. He was out of the chair in less than a heart beat, padding carefully and quietly to the broken double doors. He had no idea where Kincaid had gone, and that sparked anxiety under his skin.

Until she spoke.

“oh if you think that is going to fly you have another thing coming. Mason can come here himself and discuss this with me. I’m not going to have it!” Gage frowned, relaxing and leaning against the wall. “You want Gage and I to clean out parks that are the size of a small city, alone, in a timely manner?” she asked, sounding incredulous. The raider she was talking to snapped back a retort, something about incompetence. Sounded like a Pack Animal, if Gage had to guess. The third voice spoke up, trying to smooth things over- an Operator if Gage had ever heard one. “Oh, No no no no, I’m not going to accept that as an answer. Thats damn insulting to both me as an Overboss and to what you all want out of this heap.” Gage could imagine Kincaid shaking her head easily, probably lounged back and acting relaxed. 

He sucked in a breath, listening to the Pack Animal sass the boss. That wasn’t going to do, it wasn’t going to do at all. Gage shoved his gun down the waistband of his pants and opened the doors, letting them creak and hit the walls. The Operator came out of his skin, the Pack Animal sneered as Gage sauntered into the conversation. Gage looked first from them, and then over to Kincaid. 

She was shirtless. Lounging exactly as he had imagined (sans shirt) with two pistols on her hip and her monster of a custom rifle leaning against the couch. She seemed relaxed, so Gage’s gaze moved to the emissaries. It was a runt of a little operator who reminded him of a rat, twitchy little nose and a beard sparse enough to be whiskers. 

The pack animal though, he was a massive fucker who looked like he ate glass for breakfast, naturally Mason would send someone like that. Kincaid didn’t seem intimidated at least, which Gage counted as a plus. Gage hooked his thumbs in his belt loops, shifting his weight. “These fucks giving you trouble, Boss?” he asked, looking over at Kincaid. She laughed, sitting up and smiling at him.

“I’m not so sure Gage, I mean Mr. Daniels is being nothing but polite- but Jacobson, well- he doesn’t think Mason and I are going to see eye to eye.” Kincaid told him, shifting in her seat. She brushed something off of her pants, and then toyed with the hem. “He even had the gall to call me a worthless bitch- as if he would have said such things to Colter. I think that he thinks, and correct me if I am wrong Jacobson- That I’m just a puppet.” she said, looking up at Gage with a coy smile. Gage looked over at the pack animal. “He says, and I quote ‘you ain’t nothin’ but a dumb worthless bitch, dancing for nukaworld’s favorite cyclops’ now isn’t that just mean?” Kincaid asked, Gage snorting. “Its like he doesn’t realize-” Kincaid stood up. “just who the fuck he is talking to.” 

“you think I’m scared of you bitch?!” The Pack Animal snarled, puffing up his chest. Gage reached for his gun, Kincaid putting her hand up. “I ain’t scared of none of you, I ain’t scared of him, I ain’t scared of you! You ain’t nothin’ but a two bit mailman who got lost in god damn transit. Yeah we at The Pack have heard shank talking- all you did was run around a fucking desert and deliver packages. You ain’t one of us, you ain’t no raider!” He took a step forward and Gage readied his gun. 

The snarl from Kincaid surprised Gage though, as did the six bullets that buried themselves in the Pack Animal’s chest. Jacobson looked down, eyes wide as blood bloomed across his chest. Kinciad span her revolver as the man sank to his knees. “I’m the god damn courier six. I killed mother fucking Caesar, emperor of the fucking legion- I killed the dread general Lannius too. I walked among Kahns and I survived the Boomers, you think you little pricks playing dress up scare me?” She walked forward, walking up to the raider who was choking on his own blood. “I’ve seen cracked out fiends who died with more dignity than you.” 

She grabbed the pack animal by his shirt and lifted him with ease, Gage’s eye widening. “I’m only here because ‘Nuka World’s Favorite Cyclops’ thought you all needed a guiding hand.” Kincaid walked Jacobson to the edge of the patio, right up to the railing. “you see all of this you fuck? This is all mine- every god damn inch of it. Now take a message down stairs for me? won’t you sweetie?” Kincaid asked, a small smile spreading across her lips as she threw the pack animal over the railing. The Operator looked terrified, and was shaking as they listened to the sickening squelch of Jacobson hitting the concrete below. 

Gage shook his head, laughing and starting a slow clap. Kincaid turned to Daniels, eyes locked on him like a feral animal. “Will Mags have any problem with sending aid to clean out Galactic Zone?” she asked, the Operator shaking his head furiously. “Good. Now get out.” Kincaid snarled, Daniels bolting for the elevator right past Kincaid, the lift descended and Kincaid turned to Gage, like a completely different person. “how did I do?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips. 

“You did just fine boss. I’d watch out though, pissing Mason and Nisha off at the same time would be unwise.” Gage told her, looking over. He leaned over the edge to view her handy work. Jacobson was sprawled out on the concrete in a pool of his own blood. It was going to send a message alright, and Gage was damn near giddy for it. He chuckled slightly and looked to Kincaid, leaning on the rails and tilting his head. She jutted her chin forward, narrowing her eyes. 

“What?” she asked.

“And you ain’t fit to be a raider.” Gage chuckled, Kincaid’s eyes widening. She turned back to the window and covered her mouth, brows furrowing. The color drained from her face and Gage lit a cig, smoking while she processed what she just did.

“oops.” she mumbled, Gage looking over at her. “I got a little carried away didn’t I?” she asked, Gage laughing as she pulled away from the balcony. This was too fucking perfect. She acted all kind and innocent but deep down Gage could see a raider queen just BEGGING to be let out. 

Fucking beautiful.

Gage went over to the couch and flopped down, eyeing Kincaid over as she made her way to the arm chair. “I get carried away sometimes like that- it just kind of happens you know?” she said, sitting down. Gage watched her, puffing on his cig. “I just get so- its just-” she looked up, Gage cocked an eyebrow. “heat of the moment?” she shrugged and Gage leaned forward. 

“you know what I think Boss?” he asked, Kincaid listening intently. “I think this has been there all along and you’ve been told all your life that its something bad, something to be ashamed of. You know what it really is though?” he asked, Kincaid tilting her head. “Its survival at its best. Its kill or be killed. You know it, I know it. Jacobson there? Well he just learned the hard way.” Gage let out an ugly, dark, deep laugh. Kincaid leaned back, looking back to the elevator.

“you’re wrong.” she told him, looking over. Gage raised an eyebrow. “I mean you’re right on a lot of things- the kill or be killed or that its been here all along. But- I wasn’t raised to think the violence was bad, quite the opposite. I was raised to be a weapon, a tool to reach out and spread fear.” Kincaid told him, rubbing her arm. “its taken years for me to come to terms with that. I guess- just having it come out again so naturally really scares me? You know? Well you probably don’t, raised in a regular ass settlement and all that-” Kincaid shrugged, Gage tapping the ash off his cig. 

“what, you raised in some fucked up vault boss?” Gage asked, Kincaid looking up and smiling.  
She looked wistful for a moment and then sighed. “Something like that Gage.” she told him, Gage narrowing his eyes. “Nothing you’ll have to worry about, that all got put behind me when I took two the head and crawled out of my grave. Far as that life is concerned, I’ve been dead for almost a decade.” Kincaid told him, Gage mentally filing that away. He’d have to have shank look into it, if he got the time. 

“anyways!” Kincaid continued, standing back up. Gage watched her, seeing her pace over to the lift. “Mackenzie will be here soon, I sent for her a small while ago- we both need checked out.” Kincaid shrugged and Gage rolled his eyes and took a deep drag on his cig. “Speak of the devil, here she is now” Kincaid told Gage, walking over to the railing. She sent the lift back down, waving at Mackenzie Bridgeman- the local doctor. 

They both waited for the doctor in what was mostly silence. Kincaid was reloading her pistol and spinning it like it was some kind of toy. Gage picked up a rag from the coffee table and started cleaning his gun as Bridgeman came into view. Gage sat up as the lift hit the platform, the doctor stepping off. “Bridgeman.” he gave her a nod and she watched as he went over and turned the power off. Kincaid brought Bridgeman over to the couch and cleaned off the coffee table for her. Bridgeman took a seat in an arm chair, setting her doctoring bag up on the now clear table. 

Kincaid smiled, standing with her hands on her hips. “Thank you so much for making it here on such short notice.” Kincaid told Mackenzie, sitting beside the doctor. The woman looked uncomfortable standing between Kincaid and Gage, and Gage could see that all she wanted to do was run. Made sense really- she did just walk up to a body being thrown off the patio and she had no idea what kind of person Kincaid was. They had met like what? Once? Gage huffed and lit another cig, resuming cleaning up his gun as Mackenzie and Kincaid chattered about what she was here for today. 

Kincaid had only sent for her very recently apparently, right about when the emissaries had made their way up. Made sense Gage supposed. He didn’t sleep for long if the ache behind his eyes and the migraine was any indication. Bridgeman nodded and muttered something sheepish and quiet, keeping her eyes off of Gage as his eye tracked her. 

Gage knew her, well enough at least. She’d helped him more then he cared to admit-

“What do you need boss?” Bridgeman asked, putting on her best “professional” voice. Like she wasn’t dealing with a bunch of raiders. Kincaid holstered her gun and looked over to Gage. Oh no, she was not going to foist the doctor on him first. He was not going to have that in the slightest. 

“Gage is in pretty rough shape, need you to check him out. After that I got some stuff that needs checked too, but I can wait, he-” Gage snorted and Kincaid jumped, Mackenzie looking over. 

“Boss.” Gage sat up, leaning forward. “You go first, you overdosed last night.” Kincaid shot him a dirty look, Gage smiling at her with his best innocent look. He was going to get shit from her, he could tell- but she deserved it. She was the boss and the boss always went first. Besides that, Gage wasn’t much fond of being prodded, and his injuries weren’t that severe by any rate. It was more important Kincaid get checked, last thing he needed was for her to drop dead in the middle of battle because her organs stopped working or her brain decided to shut off.

Bridgeman was pale as she looked between the two of them. She popped open her bag and looked to Gage, then to Kincaid. “what happened?” she asked. Gage snorted as Kincaid tried to assert nothing abnormal happened, that it was just some fun and that she didn’t have to worry. Gage glared at the boss running his tongue across his teeth. If she wasn’t going to spill, he would.

Gage turned to the doctor and Kincaid glared at him as he spoke. “Oh, the boss thought it was a good idea to shoot up MedX last night- wouldn’t be a problem if she hadn’t also done what?” he shrugged, looking at Kincaid. “four inhalers? Five? Of jet? Oh and mixed that with Colter’s favorite bourbon and a double round of ‘tats, and fuck knows what else.” Gage turned back to Bridgeman, his eye trained on her. “I came up to her barely breathin’ and her heart trying its damnedest to beat its way outta her chest. Woulda’ sent for you right then but I was aware of what would be said of such’a thing- should people get wind of it. You get what I’m saying Mackenzie?” he asked, Bridgeman nodding as Kincaid huffed indignantly. 

“Gage-” 

“Boss.” Gage countered, leaning forward and staring her down. “You overdosed. Get checked. You ain’t no good to anyone dead.” he told her, Kincaid glaring down at him. He snorted and went back to cleaning his gun as Mackenzie looked at Kincaid. The boss sat down with a grunt and Gage let out an ugly snort. Kincaid sat still as Mackenzie went through her routine. The entire time she watched him, and he could see the cogs in her head moving. He waited for what ever Kincaid was going to say- it was likely going to try and shift the doctor’s focus on him so she wouldn’t be scrutinized. Gage didn’t care though, so long as he knew for sure that Kincaid wasn’t going to drop dead on him. 

Kincaid shifted and looked over at Mackenzie. “yah’ know, I’m more worried about him. Its not every day someone gets hit with a nuclear blast, lasers, and hurts their ribs to the point where they are all wheezy.” Kincaid shook her head, arms crossed. There it was. Of fucking course. 

Gage focused on his gun like Kincaid hadn’t said shit, but it sure didn’t stop the doctor. He could only hope Mackenzie didn’t say something stupid, tell Kincaid something she didn’t need to know. By all means, sure- look at his arm, his back, what ever. But no need to tell the boss he got his ass kicked ten ways to Sunday by a prick who wasn’t even in power armor. Mackenzie paused and looked up at Gage, who gave her a look. It was filled with a quiet plea. Gage didn’t have much dignity left, he wanted to keep this shred of it at least. Mackenzie knew too well why he couldn’t breathe right-

Why he had a fading black eye and fat lip, and he had only just removed the stitches across his scalp a day before Kincaid rolled in.

Mackenzie didn’t say shit, and just nodded. “I’ll make sure he gets his turn too boss,” she said diplomatically, giving Kincaid a pat on the shoulder. Gage looked down, breathing out a sigh of relief. Gage went back to cleaning his gun, focusing as much on the metal as he did on keeping his hands steady.

He couldn’t stop his memories though. His thoughts flooded with the florescent lights above him as he lay in his own blood, of the blows raining down between his shoulder blades, across his back, the metal wrench connecting with his scalp. Of how the dirty Cola-Cars floor looked as Colter beat him within an inch of his life and he choked on nothing. He remembered too well the darkness that went in and out as he was grabbed and moved, roughly pulled and manipulated. It was like Colter’s hands around his neck were burned into the back of his eyelids, how it felt as Colter cut off all his air and then threw him aside like a doll. How he was shoved in a closet and jabbed with stims and fuck knows what else. He could remember the voices as they warbled around him, he couldn’t tell what they were saying- he just remembered calloused hands on his face and he remembered all too well the plastic tubing sliding down his throat-

Gage dropped his gun- coughing loudly to try and mask the fact he couldn’t breathe. He could feel Kincaid’s eyes on him though, and it was not helping in the slightest. He ran the back of his hand over his mouth and reached down for his gun, setting it to the side. Mackenzie didn’t react and instead poked at Kincaid, drawing her attention away from him with a question or two about the chems she frequented. He was thankful for that at least. 

Mackenzie came over and laid her calloused hands on his shoulder, causing him to shudder. “I need you to lean forward Porter.” she told him, he let out a sigh and leaned far enough forward he could rest his elbows on his knees. The doc lifted up his tank top and Gage huffed, rubbing his face. 

“It ain't that bad.” Gage told her as she looked over his back. 

She sighed, shaking her head. “Its not going to scar most likely, but a burn like this shouldn’t have been left untreated” Mackensie said, he went to open his mouth and the doctor shook her head. “A Stim does not count as treatment, no matter what raiders are led to believe.” she chided, Gage closing his mouth with a slight clatter. Kinciad laughed and hopped up from her seat and came over. She flopped down on the couch beside him. She put her feet on the coffee table and leaned over to get a better look. His face burned red hot as Mackenzie and Kincaid looked him over. 

He lifted his arm up so Mackenzie could get a look at his ribs, frowning when she touched the bruising. “So, whats the prognosis?” Gage asked, looking over. Mackenzie stood up and put her hands on her hips. He saw her look to the side, trying to figure out how she was going to phrase it. It was a delicate game with raiders, he could appropriate that she was trying to spare his pride. It wasn’t life or death with him- unlike some raiders, he hoped she knew that.

Her frown worried Gage. “You shouldn’t be up and moving, you should be resting still.” she told him, Gage shaking his head. They both knew it wasn’t going to happen, taking more then a day or two to rest? It was a death sentence. Even more so with Kincaid having just started as Overboss. He needed to be on his feet and it was likely he was going to be in the thick of it for a long while yet. “and you, boss. I don’t know what sort of implants you have or how many chems you’ve taken- you ain’t much worse for wear and that worries me.” Mackenzie started, Kincaid waving her off. 

“I figured something like maybe breaking ribs and frying alive via nuclear battery were more important then my typical weekend.” Kincaid joked, Gage looking over at her. She was tapping her fingers nervously, but wanted to project confidence. She was probably starting to get cravings again, poor sap. Gage leaned back and Mackenzie sighed like an overworked mother.

She went back to her bag and grabbed several salves and bandages. “you both will be the death of me if this is a typical weekend Boss.” she told them, tapping Gage’s shoulder to get him to lean forward again. Gage snorted and Kincaid laughed, relaxing immensely. “take at least today and tomorrow to rest please, or you aren’t going to have a second in command.” Mackenzie warned Kincaid before looking over at Gage with a knowing look. Kincaid followed it and narrowed her eyes, then smiled. 

Gage shrugged and Bridgeman shook her head, applying the burn gel to Gage’s shoulder. When she was done and made sure the burns were bandaged she handed him a chemical ice pack and tapped on his ribs. He pressed it to his side and shivered slightly, grumbling as Mackenzie brought a bottle of pills to Kincaid and some inhalers.

Kincaid looked at the inhalers and raised an eyebrow. “fixer?” she asked- Mackenzie making a face. 

“addictol.” she corrected, tapping it. “in case you decide you want to quit. it’ll help the worst of the withdrawal symptoms.” Kincaid snorted and set aside the inhalers, holding the pills. “and those are for him, because I know he won’t accept them from me. they’re pain pills. they’ll dull it out.” Mackenzie gave Gage a pointed look at and he snorted, picking up his gun. They’d probably be decent for the aches and pains, but everything else was small compared to the migraine. Nothing ever touched the migraine- boy had he tried. Bridgeman was talking to Kincaid about doses though- like Gage needed a nurse to keep his pills for him. God, he should have been insulted. 

Kincaid took note and set aside the bottle, looking up at Mackenzie. “He’s been having problems with migraines, is there anything you can do about that? I need him in top shape.” Kincaid asked polietly, Mackenzie shrugged and Gage glared at her and Kincaid. Mackenzie looked over and got a glint of rebellion in her eyes. Gage’s eye widened and the doctor turned back to the boss, shifting her weight from foot to foot. She’d decided then, that Kincaid wasn’t going to snap at her. 

“its probably all of the concussions.” Mackenzie turned and went back to her bag, Kincaid looking over at Gage. “I know of at least two he’s had since he got here, and I know he’s had more in the past. Not much I can do for that boss. Best thing is quiet, darkness, and plenty of food and water if he gets sick.” Bridgeman told her, handing Kincaid several more chemical ice packs. “ain’t gonna do him much good running around and getting shot at until those bruises have faded and those burns have healed- the exhaustion is only gonna make the migraines worse.” 

Gage snorted, crossing his arms. “No shit.” he muttered, Kincaid rolling her eyes. 

Mackenzie took a moment to watch them, and then turned to Kincaid. “Is that all you needed boss?” she asked, Kincaid nodding. “Then I’ll head back to the market- if thats ok with you boss.” Mackenzie looked between Gage and Kincaid, Kincaid standing up quickly. She took Bridgeman’s hands and pat them gently, smiling softly- oh how Gage wanted that smile to be for him and him alone. 

Gage realized those were bad thoughts worming their way into his brain. Kincaid was not his- he was not hers, and he was not about to try and start something with the boss. It was only going to end in disaster, with Nuka World on fire and a knife or bullet in his gut. Gage should have known better, after what happened with Connor, after he lost his eye and his place in the world. No, better to just let Kincaid do as she wanted, not get caught up in anything that might make him go soft. Gage sighed and rubbed his neck, looking away from the pair of women. 

“You did fantastic Mackenzie, thank you so much.” Kincaid told the doctor, who’s eyes widened. Gage snorted and shook his head, Kincaid looking over. “He’s thankful too, even if he doesn’t show it very well.” she told Bridgeman, who bit her lip and gave a little nod. Christ, if he hadn’t just seen Kincaid throw a man from a window he would have told her that this was not how a raider, much less an Overboss should be acting- it was embarrassing. Mackenzie was supposed to be her servant and here was Kincaid, treating her like an equal. “I’ll walk you out, I want to talk about what you need to be a more effective medic.” Kincaid told her, leading her towards the door to the Fizztop restaurant. Gage didn’t bother to get up, instead leaning back and closing his eye. 

Bridgeman made him uneasy- she’d seen him at his absolute worst. And yet she didn’t act on it, she didn’t try and blackmail him or lord it over him- she just gave him pitying looks. Shit, he hated the looks she would give him. It made him feel like less then nothing, something to be coddled. Made him want to fight all the more. And he was sure now that Kincaid had picked up on it, she’d seen the knowing looks. The very last thing he wanted was Kincaid to pity him- he didn’t want her pity, he wanted her to touch him and to-

Gage sat up, running his hand down his face as his head throbbed. It was too damn bright in the patio, and the sounds of Nuka Town filtering up was just about too much for him to handle. He stood up and started making his way towards the door, rubbing his face as he stumbled towards blissful darkness and silence. He bumped into Kincaid as he went through the double doors and she made an undignified noise before looking at him. “you alright?” she asked softly, tilting her head as she gazed at him.

He could die a thousand times for her eyes. 

He shook his head and frowned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Yeah boss, just the migraine flaring up again is all.” he told her, she took his hands and ran her thumbs over his knuckles. He felt his face start to flush as she led him inside, towards his bed. “Boss, you don’t have to baby me- I’m not fuckin’ glass-” Gage tried to assert this, Kincaid turning to him. She tilted her head, running her thumbs over his fingers again. He watched them as she hummed thoughtfully. 

“I’m not, I promise. I’m taking care of you. Its what people do when they care about someone.” She had him sit down and then went off to the kitchen to get him some water. Gage just sat there, staring at the ground. A billion thoughts were running through his head like a Brahmin herd gone insane, but the only cognizant thought was focused on her words.

“its what people do when they are about someone” 

Gage put a hand to his mouth, trying to shove down everything. He didn’t want to get involved with the boss, he didn’t want to ruin every thing before it even began. But her hands were so soft- he couldn’t stand it and yet all he wanted was more. Just more, of everything Kincaid had to offer. He wanted all of it and it scared him, it terrified him to his core. He didn’t want to just get dirty with her, he wanted to play house, to sit with her and read with her and do a billion things raiders do not do.

Kincaid returned and Gage looked up, she had two pills in her hands and a glass of clean looking water. “Take them, Mackenzie said they’d help.” She gestured with them again and Gage plucked the pills out of her hands, downing the water too for good measure. “don’t worry about me alright? I think I can manage the bosses while you rest- its what you hired me for after all.” Gage looked up at her face and let out a sigh. Even in the low light he thought she looked stunning. Even with her hair just pulled back messily with a makeshift shoe lace tie and no make up she was the most beautiful person he thought he’d ever seen. It hurt him to look at her, but he never wanted to look away. He forced himself to though, for his safety and hers. Raiders don’t play house, raiders don’t “Love” anyone. It was their entire way of life- it wasn’t hers, but it sure as hell was his. Being soft would get them both killed, skinned alive or drawn and quartered- Didn’t matter so long as they were dead. 

“Thanks boss.” he muttered, Kincaid guiding him into laying down on his bed before pulling up the sheets and quilt around him. She smoothed them out, running a hand up his shoulder before turning away. He laid there and watched as she went back out to the patio, and watched through his barely open eye as she turned around just before opening the broken double door. She looked at him so kindly, so gently, it hurt his heart. He could physically feel the ache in his chest. 

He would do anything for her. He’d follow her to the ends of the earth if she asked, without hesitation- without regret. 

And then she turned away, and went back out on the patio. It was like the room went cold, the air chill now. It was empty, dead, just like Nuka Town before the raiders took over. It was a corpse, waiting for maggots. Gage curled up under the quilt she had pulled around him, shivering. 

He didn’t want to live like this anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate Title: Gage is emotionally constipated
> 
> Late again BUT HEY, I got it out before the end of the week! thats my goal honestly- just to get it done before the new week. Hopefully ya'll don't mind the more domestic side of the story vs the action. I'm just kinda writing this with what I want in mind, but I realize not everyone is as into whump/hurt-comfort as I am. we will be going back into kicking ass and taking names next week- in Galactic Zone Two, the Electric Boogaloo


	9. Six Shooter

The Courier Six. 

Gage wasted no time having Shank pull every shred of information he could find on Kincaid. He had to admit, in his haste to not die, Gage had overlooked a lot when it came to the new Overboss. He had to rectify that.

Boy, he was not disappointed in the slightest.

This waster had he had “hired” to be the Overboss had a long ass laundry list of things she’d done. Maybe. Accounts were conflicted. She wasn’t exaggerating when she claimed to have killed a dictator, in fact- if the reports were to be believed, she was being down right humble. He and Shank puzzled inside of Fizztop grille over the account of a pink haired courier single handedly fighting her way into a military base, filled to burst with soldiers, to the emperor- only to blow his head to bits with a Gauss rifle and walk out unscathed. If the tales were to believed, this was tuesday for the courier six. 

Right, and Gage was the president of the NCR. 

The damn claims from Vegas were wild. Some people said she overthrew the local government to put up a complex AI, some said she had a robot army at her disposal (that would be handy, if true), that she had found the Sierra Madre and robbed the death trap blind, she had walked the divide and lived, cleared an entire nest of deathclaws with nothing but five grenades and her sniper rifle (Gage could believe that, he’d seen her lack of fear), some even said she united the tribes of the mojave and zion- this included the biker Kahns, the fearsome Dead Horse warlords, and a reclusive tribe known as the Boomers- to name a few of the tribes at least. The Boomers. That one was confusing. She apparently rose an old world airplane out of lake mead with old magic for them, and in return they took to the skies and bombed the shit out of her enemies at hoover dam. Gage had just looked up at Shank like he was insane, and the informant just took off his hat and shrugged. Gage was left with far more questions then he had answers, and he did not fucking like it. 

He pondered this as lasers whizzed past his face- it really wasn’t a fantastic time to ask. 

The two of them were being shot at by a ton of angry little eyebots, Ed-E screeching bloody murder and waving its little arm at the hoard. Kincaid yanked Gage back by the bars of his roll cage and he hit the wall hard. “Head in the moment Porter!” Kincaid snarled, Gage swallowing hard. “Ain’t the time to get lost in your mind!” she told him, The Operators behind them snickering. Gage shot them a look and they shut up decently quick. 

“Just thinking how to get past these little fucks boss.” Gage told her, Kincaid giving him a curt nod. She had a revolver in each hand, one of them a blued six shooter with an aftermarket grip. She called it “Synthetic Resolve”, what ever the fuck that meant. It packed a punch though- it was about twice the size of the other standard revolver. When Gage had asked what kind it was she answered with BFR. He naturally asked what kind of revolver was a BFR?

A Big Fucking Revolver apparently. 

Gage wasn’t sure why he tried sometimes. 

He peered out from behind cover again, counting eyebots. “I thought you said they were friendly!” Kincaid snarled at Ed-E (who naturally was carrying Kincaid’s bag. Handy little bastard Gage had to admit), who beeped in a way that sounded suspiciously like “I dunno” to Gage. The raider snorted and pressed his back to the wall. There were ten hostile eye-bots, at least, all with standard hulls painted Nuka red, all playing the nuka jingle, calling on other bots in the park. If he could get a clean shot he could probably take them down with his rifle, but the angle was awkward as hell. The fifteen operators cowering behind him and the boss were little help, not much more then fodder Mags sent to appease Kincaid. They were honestly little more then kids. He sucked in a breath and Kincaid took a step back. He turned to look at her as she took off her duster. “Fuck it!” 

She slid her revolvers into their holsters and produced two pulse grenades from her bandoleer as she proclaimed her attitude adjustment. “Boss, what are you doing?” Gage asked, Kincaid pulling the pins on both grenades. His eye widened and he tried to grab her before she darted out from cover. “Kincaid!” he snarled as she ran out, throwing both grenades and whipping out Resolve. 

“NO LITTERING” proclaimed a Mr Frothy as a horde of them started emerging from the surrounding area. 

Static crawled over Gage’s skin and he was acting before his brain could catch up. He charged out after her, planting bullets in downed eye-bots. Kincaid charged forward and demolished the modified handy bots with her revolvers. The Operators hesitated at first, but they followed suit and before long the group was standing in a sea of broken and disabled bots. Gage turned to Kincaid, he wanted to chew her to bits for being that reckless- but the last thing she needed was being undermined in front of Mag’s forces. “Good job boss, reckless- but effective.” Gage said diplomatically, giving Kincaid a look. She smiled at him and laughed, clapping his shoulder.

“I aim to please.” Kincaid told him with a cheeky wink, Gage snorting and looking away. Kincaid pushed her hair back, Ed-E handing her the duster. Kincaid draped it over her arm and turned to the Operators. “Toss the bots in a pile and we’ll have the traders repair them, and scav the ones that can’t be fixed.” Kincaid commanded, Gage nodding. It was a sound plan, a working bot went for exponentially more caps than the parts. The Operators though? They just mulled around, looking at each other and then at Gage. That was not going to do. Not in the slightest. He was not the one in charge and he didn’t want to feed the rumors of Kincaid being his puppet at all. “Well- You heard the fuckin Overboss!” Gage snarled, jutting his chin towards the bots. “Get to fucking work!” The Operators scattered, Kincaid crossing her arms. She turned and walked away from the raiders and squinted at the building that loomed in the center of the park. “What you lookin’ at boss?” Gage asked, trying to get into her head. It was futile, as always- but it didn’t stop him from trying. 

“That building hosts a mainframe.” Kincaid told him, Gage squinting. Mainframe meant that they could reduce or remove the fucking deathbots. “according to Ed-E, we take that and we can control the bots. No hostiles means easy pickings.” Gage grinned and Kincaid looked over and nodded. They were on the same wavelength and Gage was living for it. It was like they were fucking made for each other... Sometimes, and then there were the times like the death claw, or the eye bots where she was fucking reckless as hell and going to kill him via stress. That wasn’t important though, they needed to get to that building. Hopefully it would be as easy as just shutting everything down- it was never that easy, but Gage could hope right? 

He and Kincaid walked back to the little Operators, who had gotten most of the tech cleaned up. “Look alive! We’re going to the center of the park!” Kincaid ordered, and by the way she moved Gage coulda swore she was military. The way she spoke to the raiders, and the iron hand she commanded with were things he could only dream of with Colter. She motioned with her hand and the group got moving, everyone falling in line as she took point. Even without the intimidating duster on, she radiated confidence and competence. 

It was damn near the hottest thing Gage had ever seen. 

Gage paused, making a face. Those were bad thoughts Gage reminded himself. No fraternizing with the boss, that was only going to lead to ruin and destruction and probably Nisha removing his guts. He shivered and Kincaid looked over, raising an eyebrow. “Its nothin’ boss.” Gage told her as they moved through the streets of the park. She hummed thoughtfully and Gage looked over, staring at her. There was a sudden feeling of panic when he realized that maybe she was putting pieces together in her head. What if she knew? What if she thought it was creepy and decided not to trust him. What if she didn’t return the feelings? Or worse, what if she did? Oh god. Gage stared ahead and focused on keeping his breathing steady as he felt the blood rush to his cheeks. He looked away and coughed, Kincaid holding up her hand. The group stopped and she looked around. It was quiet. Way too quiet. 

It was something else for his brain to focus on thank god. Kincaid narrowed her eyes and stared up at all the balconies above them. Gage followed her gaze, rifle at the ready. 

He was not ready however for Kincaid to slam into him, a wall of metal and muscle hitting him into cover as Protectrons fired lazers on their position. The operators scrambled and Gage choked slightly, Kincaid shoved against him.

Oh jesus he’d dreamed of this. 

Of her pressed against him, of soft skin and gentle kisses. Reality was far more harsh as her knee shoved into his gut, the air forced from his diaphragm. Her hand was planted solidly on his face as she whipped out her revolver with her other hand, laying cover fire from behind the knocked over trashcan she had pushed them behind. Gage wheezed, trying to get her off of him. He couldn’t breathe, and not in the panic way- she was just too damn heavy and her knee was about the only thing supporting her weight like this. “BOSS” he choked out, his rasp causing her to look down. He saw the realization dawn on her and in that split second she was hit in the chest by a laser and knocked off of him. “BOSS!” Gage gasped as she fell back, sprawled out on the cobbles. A big scorch mark was burned into the chest piece of her armor, Kincaid laying still for a second. “Kincaid!” Gage crawled forward, sucking in air into his starved lungs. 

She gave him a thumbs up and he let out a wheezy sigh. He surveyed the battle field around them, Operators were dropping like flies- injured at best, dead at worst. The bots were unrelenting and it was only a minute before their systems registered him and Kincaid as a threat again. He moved as quickly as he could manage, grabbing Kincaid by her armor and pulling her behind a wall as the remaining Operators scrambled. Gage looked around at the area, spotting an employee only entrance not too far from where he and Kincaid had hid. She was shoving up off of the cobbles, BFR in hand and anger contorting her face. 

“Kincaid!” Gage growled, her head whipping around to him as he motioned for the door. He could see her thinking about it for a minute before nodding. They shoved inside and Ede followed them with a series of indignant beeps. Gage shut the door and listened to Kincaid and the eyebot argue. “I don’t care how rude you’re finding them Ed-E, they still managed to get past your sensors and ambush us. Twice.” Kincaid growled, Ed-E making a dismissive beep. Gage moved to make sure the office area was secure. It looked like some sort of security center, and he promptly over turned a desk and shoved it against the door. 

Gage turned and recoiled slightly at the decayed skeletons of former park employees, clutching their pistols for dear life as their faces were frozen in the skeletal grin of two hundred years of decay. He edged around them, digging in their desks while Ed-E and Kincaid argued over what ever the fuck. Honestly, Gage had tuned them out. He pulled out a map and tapped it, releasing the dust from the old paper. He laid it out and hummed, reading it over. Kincaid came over and read it from his shoulder, scanning over. “definitely a main frame.” she mumbled, Gage chuckling. 

“Done arguing with the bot boss?” Gage asked, Kincaid making a face at him and causing him to laugh. She shoved his shoulder and he smiled, looking at the map. “You and the bot were right though, they got a fuck ton of servers in the central building. It might even be controlling all of the robots in the park.” Gage told her, Kincaid nodding as she scanned the map with her pip-boy. When she was done he folded it up and shoved it in his rucksack.

Kincaid looked over the information she gathered, humming. “I think you and I could make it to the main frame on our own easy, we’re sneaky enough- but those operators fucking stomp everywhere and all that jewelry clangs like a god damn wind chime.” Kincaid said, Gage nodding in agreement. “might be able to go through the employee passages through the park though, doesn’t look like the bots come down here much,: Kincaid mused, shoving the desk out of the way. 

Gage frowned, not enjoying the idea of having to go back out into laser fire. “Do we really gotta boss? We could just- let them fend for themselves. Go to the main frame and shut shit down from there-” Gage shrugged and Kincaid laughed and shook her head. 

“they might be dumbasses, but they’re our dumbasses.” Kincaid told him, and Gage grumbled as he readied his weapon. Kincaid opened the door to silence, stillness. 

Nothing.

No whirring bots, no Operators, just… nothing.

Gage didn’t like it. 

They crept out of the darkness of the office space, moving quickly through the alleyways between the theme park rides. Kincaid brought them back around to where the battle happened and found the bodies of dead Operators, and a few broke down bots. There was nothing else, little signs of the rest (about 6 or 7 if Gage counted right), and no signs of the protectron ambush. 

When Gage thought about it, Protectrons were too dumb to stage a fucking ambush.

His eye widened and he smacked Kincaid’s arm, she turned to him and he motioned to her pip-boy. She pulled up the note taking system and moved her arm over, Gage typing quickly. 

“Protectrons don’t ambush people.”

Kincaid’s eyes widened, and she looked up at Gage as she thought about it. She took her arm back and typed something in it. When she moved it over for Gage to read he had to resist the urge to smack his face. 

“Uh-oh.”

Gage took point as he moved across the main street, keeping low and quiet. He watched for any signs of The Operators, anything that might lead them to where the survivors had taken cover. Kincaid sent out Ed-E to scout, her and Gage making their way towards the center of the park in the mean time. Within a half hour Ed-E returned with six operators who had stripped themselves of all their jewelry and anything dangling. “Boss.” one of them whispered, Kincaid putting her fingers to her lips as she looked around. She typed on her pip-boy and moved for the raiders to read- she was lucky they were Operators instead of Pack Animals. Pack Animals would have just started hollering the moment they saw her, gotten all of them killed. He watched the realization read across the faces of every one of the raiders, and the terror that ensued would have been hilarious- if it wasn’t life or death. Gage shushed the panicking teenagers, letting a little bit of a growl to it. They all froze, looking terrified of him. 

Good.

Kincaid led the group into another employee tunnel, waiting until everyone was inside and Ed-E was hovering at the door to close it off. She let out a sigh of relief and pushed her hair back, looking over the ragged group in front of her. “How many of ya’ll are computer savvy?” she asked, looking the group over. Gage pointedly did not raise his hand. He let very few people know that he was good with tech- and he sure as hell wasn’t going to admit it in front of Mag’s goons if he could help it. Kincaid looked at him and raised an eyebrow, but kept quiet. “None of you? I thought you bunch were the techies of the raiders.” Kincaid sighed, shaking her head. “You any good with computers Gage?” she asked, Gage shaking his head. 

There were advantages to people underestimating him- especially people like The Operators. When people thought he couldn’t read very well, they did things like leave him with terminals that were not secure when they were called away from their meeting and they assumed he was illiterate. It helped paint less of a target on his back, and by extension less of a target on Kincaid’s back. Insulting? Yeah. Convenient? Abso-Fucking-Loutely. 

“Sorry boss.” Gage told her with a shrug, Kincaid sighing in an exaggerated way. If he had to guess, she knew exactly how good he was with computers (it was how they met after all) and she had guessed why he downplayed it. She was a fucking smart cookie, and Gage could appreciate it on a molecular level. Atta girl boss, atta girl. 

“well, this is going to go over all of your heads, but try and keep up.” Kincaid told them, Gage hooking his thumbs in his belt loops. He smiled and tilted his head, The Operators around him fidgeting. “I think that mainframe in the center of the park is housing an AI that is controlling the shells of bots here. And I think its smart. A hellofa lot smarter than a regular eye-bot or protectron.” Kincaid told them, Gage tilting his head. It made sense honestly, and he wouldn’t be the least bit surprised. 

He did his best to look uninterested. “and whats that mean for us boss?” Kincaid looked over and sighed, shaking her head. She paced slightly, being slightly theatrical about it all. She fucking loved having attention on her as far as Gage could tell, and he was happy to oblige. Kept it off of himself, just the way he liked it. 

“means if we can’t shut it off, we’re fuckin’ dead.” Kincaid said in simple terms, Gage nodded and The Operators looked profoundly uncomfortable. They whispered to each other, things about not signing on for this, and how Mags sent them to die. The understatement of the year as far as Gage was concerned- they weren’t nothin’ but fodder, bodies for Mags to climb over in victory. “So, lets move. We get to the mainframe, we shut it down, Galactic adventure is ours.” Kincaid told them, turning to her bag and pulling out pieces of her rifle and assembling it while speaking. “Easy as fucking pie. Lets get moving.” she lifted the massive thing and Gage nodded, moving aside so she could take point. That monster of a rifle was overkill if he was honest, but if Gage had to bet on it- its rounds were perfect for piercing hulls. 

Too bad the bullets were hella hard to come by.

Gage followed behind her in the dim light of the service tunnels, The Operators right behind him. She was following the map they had scanned earlier, so he wasn’t worried in the slightest about being lost. Instead he got lost in his own thoughts, each flitting in and out while his brain watched for danger around every corner.

He thought of how that switch flipped in Kincaid, and the tales of her commanding armies back in the desert. With how she acted, he could believe that- even if he doubted she did it all on her own. Naturally, the stories would down play any help she got, its what he counted on when rumors would circulate about Nuka world. It was how he kept his job after all- let the bosses take all the credit and Gage would reap all the benefits without the dangers. 

They only had to put down a feral or two, and honestly it was almost peaceful. Kincaid had been right in her assumption the bots didn’t use the corridors, the empty corridors were perfect for getting around the massive theme park. They walked in mostly silence, save Ed-E’s engines and the steady footfalls of the group. 

It wasn’t until they made it to another surface exit that the group tensed back up. Gage moved head of Kincaid and opened the door for her, Kincaid laughing a little bit. “Chivalry. I like it.” she whispered, Gage’s face heating up instantly. He let the door close on The Operators and trailed after Kincaid, who looked around the plaza. The central building was right there in front of them, seemingly completely defenseless. She hummed and Gage watched as she walked right up to the front doors, pushing them open. He kept right behind her and kept ready- prepared for another ambush. The Operators and Ed-E made sure to follow suit, entering the massive chamber with similar caution. 

It was huge, grand in scale with blinking computers and the whirl of hard drives. Kincaid walked forward like it was nothing, like this was normal. Gage looked around, feeling terribly uneasy. A screen came flying forward, stopping right in front of Kincaid.

She didn’t even flinch.

Everyone else however stopped. A face flickered on, a woman- so generic looking that she couldn’t have been real popped up on the screen. “State your name! Your Rank! You stand in front of STAR Control and you trespass in Nuka World!” the woman proclaimed, her animations jittery. “State your Business!” Gage’s rifle was up in a second, and out of his hands just as quickly due to a laser burn. He swore and heard the click of rifles above, his eye darting upwards. Turrets were trained on them, and he wasn’t the only one who just lost their weapon.

Gage paused nervously, eye darting to Kincaid who looked deep in thought. She still had her rifle, the thing hadn’t disarmed her. “I am Kincaid, agent of Robert House, Code number Four, Two, Zero, Six, Nine. I’m here to update your firmware. These people with me are my body guards.” Kincaid told the screen, which focused entirely on her. It blinked, staring at her. 

“Scanning. No badge detected, connecting to RobCo database. Loading.” it spoke all robotic like, Gage watching it closely. He bared his teeth and looked back at the turrets. He wondered, if it was directly linked to the AI or if it controlled them remotely. He went to take a step forward and one of the barrels whirled to life- Gage pausing. The glow died down and his question was answered. Fuckers. “Connection Complete, please present Pip-Boy.” the bot asked, Kincaid lifting up her arm. “Code Accepted, Hello Miss Kincaid.” The Screen pulled back, the woman on it looking calm. “I am The AI system for the Systemized Telemetry for Automated Robot Control, Or STAR Control- at your service Ms. Kincaid.” The Robot stated, the lights in the room dim. “STAR Control is currently running at fifteen percent capacity, power output is down and we are currently running on back up generators.” it told Kincaid, who nodded. At least she was getting somewhere. 

“Shut down all robots.” Kincaid ordered.

“Function Unavailable.” STAR Control announced, screen turning towards the servers. “Missing thirty three of thirty five STAR cores.” Kincaid walked forward, taking a look at the servers. “STAR Cores help me process each of the individual RobCo robots, however, I was turned on without cores and booted directly into defense mode. Nuka World has been declared in a state of crisis according to the Bradburton Nuka Systems.” the AI told Kincaid, who nodded and urged Ed-E over. Ed-E dropped her bag and Kincaid dug around in it, hauling out the piece of tech Gage and her had found in the warehouse.

Gage watched curiously as she fitted it into one of the slots on the servers, the AI freezing for a moment. He watched the screen stutter and then the AI’s avatar looked to Kincaid. “Missing thirty two of thirty five STAR cores.” it proclaimed, Kincaid standing triumphant. 

“STAR Control- Can you direct me to the rest of your cores?” Kincaid asked, the bot turning to her. Gage rubbed the back of his neck, trying to relax. He started looking at how many slots were open. This shit was a wealth of prewar tech, and he couldn’t help but wonder if it was worth more in one piece, or if it would be better to sell it off bit by bit. His attention turned back to Kincaid’s conversation with the AI, and the map it was downloading onto her pip-boy. Jesus that little thing was useful- specially when Gage looked around and spotted even more turrets that were trained on the group of them, even as the AI was distracted. Gage moved slowly, watching the turrets follow him. The screen whirrled around and focused on him. 

“STATE YOUR INTENT.” The AI demanded of Gage, swinging its screen right into his face. Gage backed up, resisting the urge to reach for the pistol that was in his waistband. This fucking thing was unsettling and he didn’t like it one fucking bit. 

“Trying to protect my Boss!” he exclaimed, putting his hands up. It scanned him, beeping. Its little red scanner went over every part of him and jesus did he feel fucking exposed. He hated it, he hated every part of this fucking exercise. couldn’t they just shut it down and get it done with? Fuck the bots, if they unplugged this they would all just turn off right?

“you are not a RobCo Employee.” it stated. Kincaid sighed, shaking her head. She moved over next to Gage, and the AI focused on her instead. For Kincaids sake Gage just stood still, well mostly. He found he couldn’t stop squirming under the AI’s attentions. He grumbled deep in his chest, licking his lips when the AI looked back to him. “all sensors indicate he is hostile. I can neutralize him Ms. Kincaid, on your command.” 

“I hired him, he, and the rest of our group- are all third party employees of RobCo industries. Neutralize him and Mr. House will be VERY displeased STAR Command.” Kincaid told it, the AI pausing. “For future references, this is Porter Gage- Number Two.” Kincaid held her hand over his head, the robot scanning him. 

“Accepted.”

Kincaid did the same of each of The Operators, who looked entirely terrified as the AI focused on each one. Gage kept still besides the shivering anger that coursed through him like coiled electricity. He watched Kincaid, who seemed cool as a cucumber speak to the thing, making sure it wouldn’t kill them. He appreciated that at least, he didn’t have the god damn patience to deal with AI. Too black and white, too dedicated to logic, he never quite knew where that logic was going to lead these god damn robots.

Kincaid returned to the front of the group, the AI looking over them. “Can you make the bots non-hostile?” she asked, The bot shook its digital head. Gage growled and Kincaid looked over at him, giving him a glare that shut him right up. 

“I cannot, not enough processing power.” it told her, Kincaid nodding. Of course, nothing was easy. Nothing in Gage’s life was ever going to be easy. “how many STAR cores are required for this function?” she asked, the AI froze for a minute. 

“Twenty of Thirty Five cores required.” it answered, the image nodding decisively.

“Star Control. I am going to return with more mercenaries to track down your cores. If they identify as “The Operators” or “Porter Gage” do not harm them, they are hired by RobCo industries.” Kincaid told it, the AI confirming. Kincaid turned to Gage, smiling. “Lets go, we’re gonna need to regroup.” Gage nodded and Kincaid motioned to the door, leading the group outside. It was still eerily quiet still, and it set Gage right on edge.

The moment the group had entered the safety of the corridor The Operators lost their fucking shit. Gage took a step back as they surrounded Kincaid, chattering like children. They were so excited and in awe, Kincaid soaking up the attention like a sponge. Gage sighed, rubbing his neck. He finally let the tension out of his muscles, and let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding.

Ed-E beeped at him and he looked over, chuckling. “that was fucking stressful as hell.” Gage admitted, Ed-E beeping in agreement. “lets set up camp while they’re doing what ever-” Gage motioned to the throng around Kincaid. “-that, is.” Ed-E beeped and Gage moved down the corridor, taking Kincaid’s bag from Ed-E and laying out her shit. He set it up in a circle, turning on her little oil lamp and getting out her hot plate and pots. While The Operators hounded Kincaid for how she knew what to do Gage worked to heat up a can of beans for him and the Boss. As far as he was concerned? The Operators could choke. 

Ain't no one in the gangs ever did shit for him, and he didn’t mind that one bit. No connections, nothing to make him soft. 

Kincaid came over and sat down next to him, smiling slightly as Operators set up their own little areas in the hall. Gage handed her a bowl of beans and she took it, Gage eating right out of the pot. “That was some hot shit you pulled with that AI.” Gage told her, looking over. Kincaid laughed and looked down the hall. “wanna explain the whole- RobCo thing?” Gage asked lowly, Kincaid looking back at him. She stirred her beans while he shoved a spoonful into his mouth. 

“Once Upon a Time there was a courier, She was the Courier Six. I killed her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a surprise day off before I work the next 7 days in a row, so have a chapter hella early. I wanted to make sure to crank this out before I was too exhausted to meet my goal.


	10. Let's Get Lost

Kincaid tracked her sister from one end of the US to the other, and planted twenty six bullets to end a reign of terror. Less then ten minutes later, Kincaid was mistaken for her and killed in cold blood- two to the head and buried like she was dead. You’d think that when you empty three clips and then some into someone, they’d never hurt you again.

Was that irony?

Gage thought so as he listened to Kincaid. He thought on her tale long after it was over- even days later as Kincaid led another group of Operators through the ruins of Galactic Zone. They’d combed over most of the park, staying out of the rides and attractions for damn good reason. Now? Kincaid had brought them behind STAR Control, into an old trader camp that was used back when Colter first took over Nuka Town USA. It was nothing more then a scrap heap, trash piled on trash and little homes made inside of the heaps.

Gage shoved a door open, eye narrowed as he scanned over the little makeshift shack. It was all but empty, save a dingy bedroll tucked into the corner. Fucking depressing that. Gage frowned, thinking about the robotic demise all these poor chumps suffered. Gage didn’t feel bad for them by any means- but it was still a painful way to die. He had seen enough operators pulled apart during recent fire fights to know.

Colter had known that the traders had fled, but he had bigger fish to fry (or ignore) in Nuka Town. It made Gage really wonder about what they were going to be walking into as far as Dry Rock Gulch was concerned- more traders had fled there. Kincaid might be walking right into a nest of angry settlers, who lost everything. Gage let out a huff and pulled back, closing the door. He figured they’d burn that bridge when they got to it.

Kincaid was standing with a few of The Operators, some rat looking motherfucker far too close for Gage’s comfort. She was going over her map with them, pointing out specific land marks they’d all gone over and what they had found so far- scrap wise at least. It was nothing that really concerned the second in command, so Gage just posted himself next to her, a presence to remind The Operators that she was not to be crossed.

They’d brought back the cores they had to the AI the day before, and Gage had a terrible feeling about that bot. It was double faced and while Kincaid said it wasn’t in AI’s nature to lie, he didn’t trust that as far as he could throw the operator to his left.  
  
It was not telling them the whole truth and he figured that was about the same as a lie. It certainly was just as dangerous. Kincaid tapped her map, saying something to the leader of the little group of operators. “We know its here. The beacon says its somewhere in this scrap.” Kincaid said, Gage resisting the urge to groan. Kincaid put her hands on her hips, looking over the group. She made a motion with her hand, Gage making a face. The operators looked between him and the boss, and Kincaid raised a brow.

Gage let out a huff and started working the buckles on his armor. He fucking hated scavving. He didn’t have the patience for it, for that next big score. He chucked his armor to the side and started digging. If it had just been him and Kincaid he would have thrown a fit, told the boss right where to stick it. But it wasn’t just them- and these Operators didn’t have enough sense in their heads to not question the boss.

At least she led by example, and was right next to them digging through the scrap.

All stripped out of her jacket, in just her body armor with a thin little tank top between her and the air. Gage paused, watching the muscles of her back as she hauled up a heavy chunk of- something. He wasn’t sure and he sure as fuck did not care. He let out a breath and turned back to his own pile of scrap, tossing aside some sort of sheet metal.

“So these stupid fucks turned it on, knowing full well they couldn’t control it. She warned them- they did it anyways.” Kincaid shook her head, rolling her shoulders. Gage made a non-committal noise, tossing aside some trash. “They were gonna try and sell the cores before all y’all showed up.” Kincaid chuckled and shook her head again. “Dumbasses.”

Gage couldn’t help but agree.

They dug around in that trash for fucking hours. Fucking hours of their lives wasted trying to find some sort of computer processor for an AI that Gage was sure was going to turn on them. He leaned against a bench, sipping on water as he glared at the growing pile of body parts the group had found. Legs, hands, arms, faces, hell Kincaid had even found a mostly intact nose. Bits of mummified people was not what Gage wanted to find. He was as much of a raider as everyone else here, but it didn’t mean he wanted to stick his hand behind a piece of metal and pull out a mummified foot with a shoe still on it. Gage took a sip of his water, pointedly trying not to think about being ripped apart by robots.

That would be a terrible fucking death.

Gage set aside his water, rolling his tense shoulders. Kincaid looked up, smiling as he went back to his pile. “Having fun yet Gage?” she asked, wiping her hands on her jeans. Gage fixed her with a look, eyebrow cocked. She smiled at him and Gage moved a chunk of concrete, finding a crushed hand under it. He sighed, picking up the hand. “ew.” Kincaid chuckled, Gage looking at her.

He wasn’t sure what possessed him to do it- maybe her smug face or the fact she had him doing this in the first place.

He didn’t even think as he threw the hand at her, Kincaid shrieking and laughing as she ducked it. The hand slapped an Operator in the face and Gage barked out a laugh, Kincaid almost falling over as she wheezed. “Holy shit! You got an arm on you!” she laughed, Gage laughing and leaning against a massive chunk of sheet metal. It felt good, to just laugh. He wiped his eyes and looked at Kincaid and god, the fucking things he would do for her laugh. She was over apologizing to the Operator who got slapped, making sure they were ok. It wasn’t a raider thing to do, but Gage couldn’t bring himself to reprimand her. She was just so soft, so kind, it made his chest hurt.

He rubbed the back of his neck, turning back to the pile of scrap he was supposed to be searching through. He sucked in a breath, shaking his head. The core had to be around in this trash heap somewhere. The faster they found it the faster they could move on and get the bots shut down.

He grabbed a huge piece of scrap metal- looked like an old engine or some shit- and pulled. It didn’t budge, Gage sucking in a breath. He steeled himself, adjusting his grip. He counted to three and wrenched back, hauling the metal with him. He felt his back tighten up before he felt the pain, and he knew he had made a terrible mistake.   
  
“FUCK!” Gage snarled, throwing aside the hunk of metal. He felt his muscles quiver, a shiver running down his left arm. He sat there for a moment, breathing through the lancing pain running up his back. He was going to be feeling that in the morning.

Kincaid came over, putting a hand on his arm. “you ok?” she asked, Gage nodding. He licked his lips and pointed at the scrap heap. He could see the massive computer core sitting where the engine had been and he was in way too much pain to actually articulate it.

“Oh! You found it!” she gasped, lifting up the piece of computer. It didn’t look like it was in pristine shape, but after a once over Kincaid determined it was likely still functional. She tucked it gently into her bag and Gage stalked back over to the bench he had been leaning against before, taking another water break as The Operators crowded around her, Kincaid marking the core off of the map. Gage glared at nothing while she chattered about the tally and talked scavving with the leader of their little group of raiders. It was some rat faced motherfucker- when Gage put a little more thought to it, it was the rat faced motherfucker with the whiskers from Fizztop, the one who took the message Kincaid wanted troops to Mags. What was his name?  
  
Gage sucked down another mouthful of water, glaring at this Operator. Was it Danvers? Deacon? Dick? Rat Fucker? Gage’s eye narrowed and the Operator looked up, staring back at him. The raider’s nose twitched and Gage decided his new name was Rat Fucker. Gage and Rat Fucker kept staring at each other for a minute more before Kincaid noticed, getting between them. “Excuse me,” Kincaid asked, looking between them. “Were either of you listening?” Kincaid asked, Rat Fucker nodding enthusastically.  
  
“Yeah boss, Yo’ attack dog was just glaring me down like I’d done gone done something.” Rat Fucker told her, laying a hand on her arm all gentle like. She pulled her arm away and Gage didn’t like that at all. Gage bared his teeth and moved, and would have gotten right in Rat Fucker’s face if Kincaid hadn’t put a hand on his chest.  
  
The Operator took a step back, sneering. “You got a fuckin’ problem?” Gage asked, puffing out his chest. Rat Fucker shook his head and Kincaid glared at Gage, not blinking. He tried to push past her and she shoved him back, a peal of chuckles coming from the Operators around them.   
  
“Porter!” Kincaid snapped, Gage looking at her. He bristled and looked back at the Operator, who had his hand on a pistol. “Gage.” Kincaid said with emphasis, moving more solidly between the two. “Calm down.” she told him, Gage taking a step back and letting out a heavy breath.  
  
“Sorry boss.” he growled lowly, Kincaid turning to Rat Fucker. She pointed at the gun and the raider holstered it, crossing his arms.

“Now Then!.” Kincaid snarled, snapping at both of them. “If you two are done being children, lets make our ways to the way points and start the take over of the fucking attractions.” She fixed them both with one more commanding look before making a bit of a show of making sure her weapons were loaded.

The threat was clear. Any more nonsense and she was going to put a bullet in both of them. Gage turned from her, grabbing his armor and hauling it on. He worked on the belts as Operators went past, heading off to do what ever it was Kincaid had told them to do. Rat Fucker paused and gave him a look, Gage reaching for his pistol before the asshole ran off. Kincaid came up beside him, putting a hand on his arm. Gage turned to her and she stared at him. “The fuck was that about Gage?” she asked, Gage swallowing hard. 

“Its nothing boss.” Gage told her, Kincaid shaking her head. “Just don’t like that fucker is all- he’s a fucking asshole.” Gage told her, pulling his arm away. Kincaid let out a huff and Gage finished buckling the last strap on his roll cage. If he was given five minutes alone with that operator, the raider would be dead. Gage didn’t like how he looked at Kincaid, how he talked, and how he touched her. It made Gage’s blood boil. He took a breath, digging around in his pockets for a box of cigs. He lit one and took a long drag, relaxing.  
  
When he turned back to Kincaid, she had her arms crossed. “You done?” she asked, Gage nodding. “Jesus. And you were worried about me starting shit with the gangs.” she groused, walking past Gage. He frowned and followed her, padding along like the loyal dog he’d become. She was right- he had worried she was going to pick fights. Now look at them. At least she asserted herself though, it would help with the whole “puppet” rumor that was going around Nuka World. Gage followed close behind her, weaving through overturned kiosks and through trash.  
  
“Where are we going?” he asked, Kincaid looking over her shoulder.  
  
“Maybe, instead of picking fights with the underlings, you could listen while I talk?” she asked him wryly, Gage making a face as she laughed. She pulled up the map on her arm and pointed at one of the markers. “Vault Tec. You and I are gonna scout it out and see if its worth spending time taking over.” Kincaid told him, Gage nodding. “Ed-E is already working on the surrounding area, so we shouldn’t come across too many surprises.” Kincaid told him, shrugging as she picked her way over some piece of machinery. Gage followed her, ignoring the ache in his back.

He didn’t want to disappoint her, but he also wasn’t going to let that rat looking motherfucker just go and invade her space like that. He knew how The Operators worked, how they were testing the waters. Next thing Kincaid would know, William would be plying her with chems and guns and anything else she wanted- if she wasn’t careful and didn’t have Gage, The Operators would be walking all over her.

Just like that fucker she escaped from.

Gage was roused from his thoughts by Kincaid grabbing him by the back of his armor and pulling him into a kiosk. Gage choked, Kincaid putting her hands over his mouth. She made a shushing noise, pressing real close to him. A red beam scanned over them, Gage’s eye widening.

He swallowed and Kincaid let her hands off of his mouth, resting her weight on the roll cage he wore. The scan kept going, Gage laying there on the ground and keeping as still as possible. They stayed there for a minute more, the robot finishing up the scan and lumbering off. “Sorry Gage, I didn’t have time to warn you.” she told him, Gage staring up at her.  
  
“Thats ok boss.” he mumbled, feeling the heat rising to his face. She peeked over the counter of the kiosk, Gage just laying there under her. He wanted to rest his hands on her hips, to do things, things that would get them both in trouble. He clenched his hands into fists, waiting for Kincaid to get off of him.  
  
Kincaid pulled herself up and Gage let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “I think we’re in the clear.” Kincaid told him, peeking back over the counter and holding out her hand. He considered batting away the help, to get up on his own. He had the urge to assert his own pride, prove to her and everyone else he could do shit on his own. They were childish thoughts, so he took her hand and she pulled him to his feet.   
  
Damn the last of his pride.

He winced as Kincaid hauled him up, feeling his back and shoulder twinge. Kincaid watched him, looking up at him through her lashes. She was going to make him boil over- be it with annoyance or infatuation. He didn’t know yet, but he felt like he sure was close. “Gage? Are you ok?” she asked, Gage swallowing hard as she batted her eyelashes. Gage nodded and looked away from her as she moved closer to him. It had to be deliberate, she had to know what she was doing. She was only an inch shorter then he was, there was no need for her to look at him like that. He held his breath as those hazel eyes burned into his soul, stealing the air right out of his chest.

“You aren’t ok. You’re hurt and you’re hiding it.” Kincaid said quietly, fuck. Gage frowned and kept his gaze off of her. She sighed, taking a step back. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul. Tell the boss where it hurts?” she asked, Gage looking at her. That was a trap if he had ever seen one- any other person and he would have pulled his pistol and shoved it right under their chin. Any other person.

But this was Kincaid, and even if she hadn’t realized it, she had him wrapped around her pretty little finger.

He swallowed again and she ran a hand down his arm, taking his hand. He pulled it away and looked around the little road they were on. “Somewhere safer boss.” Gage told her diplomatically, Kincaid letting a small smile dance across her lips. She hopped the counter and Gage watched as she checked the alley, making sure they were alone.   
  
“I’m gonna hold you to that.” she told him, Gage crawling over the counter as well. He grunted and she seemed to take that as an answer, taking point as she made her way up the pathway. He followed, taking comfort in the silence that now stretched between them.

Kincaid led them right up to the vaul tec attraction, carefully picking her way up a decrepit bridge. Gage followed closely, listening to Kincaid chatter. “Vault Tec was pretty fucked-” she said to no one in particular, Gage looking over. “Have I ever told you about the plant vault? That one was fun- oof.” Kincaid laughed a little, Gage looking back up at the sign. He didn’t much care for Vault Tec, too many horror stories floated around raider camp fires. Stories of experiments gone wrong and vaulties that could just rip through a hundred men without breaking a sweat at all floated around in his head as Kincaid threw open the doors to the attraction. Gage kept alert as Kincaid led him up to a ticket booth, keeping guard while she scavved around the lobby.  
  
“Never did understand the appeal of a vault, sure- stick me underground with no control over anything. What could go wrong?” Gage mused, Kincaid laughing.

“Ain’t that the fucking truth?” Kincaid asked, pressing a button on a command console in the ticket booth. The ride booted up, a holographic projector shaking off dust as it lowered down from the ceiling. It started projecting stars on the wall and Kincaid looked at him with a big ole’ smile. He frowned. “Nope. Just nope.” he told her, she smacked his arm and started her way into the hall.

He didn’t like this shit at all, it looked like a migraine waiting to happen. Gage followed Kincaid reluctantly, keeping his eyes on the walls. Anything painted vaguely black could stand still and not be detected. It was literally perfect for ambush. A voice blared from hidden speakers and Gage held his gun tightly, eye darting around for danger. Kincaid walked like this was a typical thursday- like there was nothing setting off any warning bells for her.

“House wanted to head to space, he thought the earth was dead. I think he just lived in the desert.” Kincaid mused, leading Gage through the hall. He swallowed hard and she kept talking, giving him something to focus on. “The things I’ve seen Gage- the places I’ve been,” she sighed wisfully. “Like Zion, oh my god the life in the canyons Gage, it was beautiful.” She walked up to a little fence, the lights calming down as a stage light flared to life.

Gage hung back, glaring at the scene in front as it came to life. The announcer was talking about life on some uninhabitable planet and how life was possible underground. Out shambled a protectron in gold and white, and within a minute it scanned them and went full death bot. Before Gage could react, Kincaid had her rifle and shot at it, the bot knocked back by particle rounds. Kincaid shot it again, dropping the bot like it wasn’t armored. That gun was supposed to shoot lead and gun powder, Gage had seen it. In Bradburton it shot bullets, in the gauntlet it ripped apart raider bodies like tissue paper.

“What?” Kincaid asked him, looking over. He looked up at her and frowned, huffing.   
  
He pointed at the gun, looking at it. “The fuckin’ gun. Last I saw that thing shot real bullets.” he tapped the rifle, feeling the vibrations coming off of it. Kincaid lit up slightly, her eyes bright.  
  
“Oh!” she held it up, twirling it so that Gage could see it better. “Snipey Pete is custom!” she told him, flipping open a cover on the receiver. It was a mess of hardware Gage couldn’t make heads or tails of. “He’s the love child of an anti-materiel rifle and an experimental proton rifle.” Kincaid told Gage, tapping the side. “He runs on tech from the Big Empty, same sorta shit that runs in the Sierra Madre.” Kincaid told him, as if these names and places would clear up all confusion. They certainly were words at least. “So instead of just standard energy blasts like a typical musket or laser rifle, it shoots proton charged shots. It don’t heat up like a typical laser rifle, and has a damage over time effect that deteriorates tech if it isn’t properly shielded. While an assultron or securitron wouldn’t be effected, a standard protectron or Mr Handy would be toast.” Kincaid explained, fiddling with the receiver while Gage watched. 

She started going into the technicalities of how the tech worked, flipping switches and changing the mode of the gun. She showed him where the bullets would go and how to change the settings to the energy gun mode. Most of it went over his head, but honestly it was a beautiful piece, the parts hand machined with precision. Gage dabbled in making his own pieces for his rifle, so just that alone was impressive. The things he would do for such a gun. he’d damn near kill for it.

She probably did kill for it.

When her little demonstration was over, she adjusted the gun like she had done it thousands of times before. She popped the battery back in and motioned to the hall with a smile. “Shall we?” she asked, Gage letting out a sigh. He didn’t want to spend the last of the daylight exploring some Vault Tec hell- he wanted to be back at Fizztop, sleeping in his own bed.

It wasn’t to be though.

He let her take point, following closely as she made her way up to a massive fake vault door. It was entirely too accurate and he hated it. He hated all of this. It made him feel claustrophobic. “Boss-” Gage started as she threw open the giant gear shaped door. She looked back, smiling at him.  
  
“Its alright, Ed-E said that the density of bots in here was real light- its nothing we can’t handle.” She told him, walking in like she owned the place. Gage swallowed hard and followed, Kincaid fucking around on her pip-boy. “Speak of the devil, I’m gonna call that little bot over- I could use her help scanning for scrap.” Kincaid mumbled, Gage looking at her. He didn’t relax in the slightest, even as Kincaid sat down on a big crate.  
  
“I just got a real bad feeling about this boss.” he told her, Kincaid nodding.  
  
“Noted.” she told him, Gage letting out a huff. She looked up from her pip-boy and looked around. She knocked over a box and Gage came out of his skin, Kincaid chuckling. “Wish I still had my buyer.” she started to dig through the contents of the box- vault suits in white and gold. “you can make a real pretty penny scavving.” Kincaid told him, holding up a vault suit like she was seeing if it would fit him. He wouldn’t have wore that in a hundred god damn years. He was not about to look like some fresh faced vaultie, it was asking to be robbed. “And vault memorabilia? Its popular as hell, I’d get seventy five caps a pop for the suits alone.” Gage shoved away the vault suit, Kincaid laughing. She started shoving a few into her bag, Gage keeping an eye out.   
  
He heard humming and turned, rifle at the ready. Around the corner came Ed-E, and Gage was met with unimpressed beeping. Ed-E brushed aside the barrel of his rifle and Gage snorted, Kincaid getting up. “Thanks for getting here so fast Ed-E my love.” she told the bot, pressing her forehead to the grate across its optical sensor. Gage watched, feeling a twinge of jealousy in his chest. Kincaid took point as she led them deeper into the vault.

Ed-E beeped and Kincaid laughed, Gage keeping his focus ahead. The next room was a dead garden. There was no movement, no life, but it still felt like an ambush. Kincaid walked right up to the edge like it was nothing, examining the dead fruit trees. Gage heard hydraulics and whipped around, catching the wall opening to expose a protectron. Kincaid turned, like she had been ready the entire time- and it did not take them long to put down the bot.

In the mean time, more had come shambling out in the garden, firing lasers at them from the floor below. Gage took cover, reloading as Kincaid took potshots at the bots. Kincaid got clipped with a laser, snarling and dropping the protectron like it was childs play. “You ok boss?” Gage asked, Kincaid nodding.

“Yeah.” she told him from behind cover, Ed-E beeping at the bots below. “It just clipped my coat, nothing serious.” She looked at Gage, who nodded. They waited a second before popping out of cover, working to drop the protectrons that just kept fucking coming. “Ed-E! Scan for hidden compartments in the wall, I don’t want to get ambushed again.” Kincaid said as the last of the bots fell. Ed-E beeped and Kincaid turned to the eye-bot. “The fuck you mean all the walls are hollow?” she asked, Ed-E making a “I dunno” noise. Gage snorted and Kincaid shot him a dirty look.

“We should find a place to rest.” Gage told Kincaid, rolling his arm. It still ached, and honestly it hurt more then it should have. There was no way now they were going to make it back to Fizztop, and he was going to have to sleep on the ground. He was not looking forward to it. Kincaid nodded, pushing forward.  
  
At least it was kept warm inside the ride, even only on auxiliary power there was a surprising amount of tech still active. Gage followed the boss into what looked like a diorama of private quarters. He looked around, and in the corner he saw it.

A bed.

They found a clean bed. That wasn’t moth eaten or ripped to pieces. It was new and fluffy and soft and Gage just wanted to roll in it. He stopped just before touching it, looking to Kincaid for approval. She nodded and Gage smiled, shoving his arms into the soft mattress. He made a satisfied hum and Kincaid laughed, going through the rest of the room. “If you want, when we settle in for the night you can have the bed.” Kincaid told him, Gage perking up.

The blankets were soft and fluffy, and nicer then pretty well anything he had ever had. He hummed and checked the pillows, squishing them in his hands. He turned back to Kincaid, who tilted her head. “When we leave, I call the blankets. I call the pillows. You can have all the tech boss, I want THIS mattress. I wanna stick it in Fizztop and then not leave it for like… three days or some shit.” he told her, Ed-E beeping like it was making fun of him. He frowned and pointed his gun at it, Ed-E making a noise like it was laughing. Kincaid smiled, leaning on the wall.

“Sure thing, its like the least we can do. I’ll have some Operators move it to Fizztop.” Kincaid told him, shrugging. He lowered his gun and smiled, looking back at the bed. His bed. “You deserve it.” Kincaid told him all matter of fact like. Gage made a face and she laughed again, going through the dressers. They were sadly empty, but she did find an intact hand mirror. She set it on the bed, looking around the faux bathroom. “No running water, but there are soft towels.” Kincaid came out with an armful of bath towels, tossing them beside the bed. Gage knelt down and grabbed one, letting his hands run over the thick fabric.

Oh, it was fucking heavenly.

Gage was a man of creature comforts. He liked soft things and warm things, and he very much liked when they were the same things. He shoved his face into the towel he was holding and hummed, wiping the grime off of his face as best he could. “Gage!” He startled, looking up at Kincaid. She had her hands on her hips, a playful frown on her face. “I ain’t even gotten a chance to wash them and you’re already staining them.” she laughed and Gage smiled, standing up. “look at it, its covered in grease, sweat, and god knows what else” she told him, snatching the towel away and inspecting it.

Gage laughed, leaning into her personal space. “Sorry boss. Once a raider, always a raider.” Gage spoke, snatching the towel back. “I take what I can.”  
  
“And you give nothing back?” Kincaid asked. Gage tilted his head and Kincaid laughed, pulling the towel from his hands. “Oh Gage, you slay me.” she told him, walking to the next room. Gage watched her go and swallowed hard, biting his lip.  
  
“Come on. Faster we clean out the robots, the faster you can sleep in that bed.” Gage was right on her heels at that. Between the aches in his muscles and the promise of clean blankets he was ready to take on the whole exhibit.

They moved into the mock kitchen, Kincaid testing each of the appliances after putting down the rogue Mr. Handy bots that came out of some cupboards. Gage explored around while she poked around, and he found a hidden panel on the wall. “Boss?” he asked, Kincaid turning as the wall opened up. It was an observatory, and there were mummies dressed as scientists strewn about. He raised an eyebrow, stepping over the corpses. There was an impressive computer array inside, and holotapes galore.

Kincaid had a blast, going through each one and prattling to Gage about the sick and fucked experiments Vault Tec was running, but Gage was more interested in keeping an eye out for bots.

At least, he was for the first hour.

Kincaid just keep reading logs, one tape after the other. It was boring, horribly so. Gage knocked a mummy out of a wheeley chair and sat down, spinning while Kincaid read. Ed-E beeped at him to stop, Gage glaring at the bot. He flipped it the finger and spinned faster, Ed-E trying to grab at him. He smacked the eye-bot away and came to a stop, looking over at Kincaid. She was still enthralled with her haul, so Gage got up, albeit, dizzily. He stumbled up to one of the desks, going through all of the tack and bullshit. Anything that didn't catch his attention he’d toss over his shoulder, grumbling to himself. He found a little ceramic cat knickknack, and he almost threw it- almost. It reminded him of something Kincaid would enjoy though. He stared at it for a moment, Ed-E beeping beside him. He looked at the bot and pocketed the cat.

He’d drop it somewhere in Fizztop later, somewhere Kincaid could find it.

He wasn’t going soft at all. Not in the slightest.

Gage kept digging around, eventually having thrown everything in the desks on the floor in a ring around his boss. He crouched down in front of her, frowning. “Boss.”

“Gage.” she responded, not looking up. He frowned more, letting out a huff.

“Boss I’m fucking bored as shit.” he told her, Kincaid looking up and quirking an eyebrow. She looked at the mess around her and he watched a smile creep onto her face.

She shook her head, leaning back. “Why don’t you go back to spinning in the chair?” she asked him, Gage making an exaggerated thinking face.

“Nope. My arm hurts too bad to get real speed.” Gage told her, Kincaid frowning.

She stood up, Gage following suit. “Right, you’re hurt. I’m sorry Gage.” Kincaid told him, Gage making a face. She took his hand and led him out of the little lab space. “I got so preoccupied I forgot you were in pain.” She led him back to the bedroom and Gage looked around. “We’re gonna camp early, just block up the doors real good.” she told him, Gage looking at her with confusion.

“It safe boss?” he asked, she nodded and Ed-E beeped at them. Kincaid waved it off, going over to the bed. He followed her, Kincaid tossing down her duffle bag. She started hauling out the camping gear and Gage took that as that. He started to run perimeter, making sure that doors were closed and barred. He moved the furniture in front of the door that led deeper into the exhibit. His shoulder screamed at him for it, but honestly, he was more worried about getting zapped while relaxing.

At least there were no ghouls, no bots, no operator shits to make things insufferable.

Kincaid closed the door to the bathroom and her pip-boy flashed, lighting up the room. “Ok Gage. Where does it hurt?” she asked, Gage letting out a heavy sigh. “Don’t argue with me on this.” she sounded real commanding, but Gage knew better. He was not looking forward to what ever it was she was going to do to him. He should of just let her keep being distracted by that lab, at least in there she wasn’t going to prod him to death.

“Its either I treat it, or we go to Bridgeman.” she had changed tactics, and it worked- much to Gage’s dismay. Kincaid smiled like a cat that caught the canary. He rolled his eye and started undoing the buckles on his armor, shucking off the roll cage with a heavy thud.

He put his back to her and lifted the arm that was giving him problems. It wouldn’t have been an issue if he hadn’t brute forced that engine thing, but what could he do about it now? He could bite his tongue and deal with the pain.

“This shoulder and my back boss. I pulled something while scavvin’.” Gage admitted. Kincaid came up and he felt her warm hands gently touch his tense muscles. He jumped, moving away slightly. Kincaid made an annoyed noise and Gage let out a huff. “Sorry boss. I ain’t use to people touchin’ me.” he admitted, feeling his cheeks heat up.

Kincaid traced his back muscles through his shirt and he flushed something fierce. God he was thankful she was behind him. “I think I can fix this. You gotta relax a little bit though.” she told him, Gage twisting to look at her. It was a mistake, sending lancing pain from his shoulder to his hip. He grunted and Kincaid gave him a gentle pat. “I don’t think you’re gonna like this.” He sure as hell didn’t like how she said that.

“Wh-” Gage didn’t even get through the word before her fingers were working into his muscles. It sent electric pain down his back and Gage clenched his teeth. “Fuck!” he exclaimed, trying to pull away. He took a step forward and held his arm, looking back at Kincaid like a dog that just got stepped on. She made a face and Ed-E beeped. Gage gave the bot a dirty look, wrinkling his nose.

Kincaid sighed in annoyance, looking around. “Gage, go put your hands against that wall there and don’t move.” Gage turned and looked at her, making a face. She laughed, shaking her head. “It ain’t nothin’ kinky I promise, it’s just gonna keep you from jerking away every time I make progress in getting those muscles to unwind.” Gage looked unconvinced, but went and did as told. He put his palms flat against the wall and tried to tune out Ed-E’s beep-y laughter. He braced himself for her assault again, expecting the pain now.

Her fingers found their way into his back again and Gage let out a grunt, trying his best not to move. It was hard though, and she was far from gentle. Her hands went in circles, over and over again like she was trying to uncoil him. “Jesus, what are you doing back there?” he asked, Kincaid jabbing her thumb into his spine. He straightened up and made an embarrassing noise. She didn’t respond for a moment, too focused on his muscles.

“Something... some of my friends taught me.” Kincaid finally said, pulling back. She tilted her head, Gage looking over his shoulder at her. “Give me like, another minute.” Kincaid told him, and Gage dreaded it.

When she was done, she tapped his shoulder. Gage turned from the wall, not feeling much better. “Try rolling your arm, see if it helped?” Kincaid asked, looking worried. Gage obliged and was surprised when it was like all the tension just flowed right out of his shoulder. He tried twisting, lifting his arm over his head, the works. He was surprised. She watched him move and put her hands on her hips, looking satisfied.

It really fuckin’ worked.

“eh, Its a little better.” Gage told her, Kincaid smiling brightly. Gage was taken back by that small smile, so soft- like she was fond of him or something. He stared at her for a minute before coming to his senses, going over and grabbing his armor. He slid it back over his head, working the straps and ignoring the quiet laughter from Kincaid.

Oh she definitely knew.

If she didn’t know now, she would have been completely fucking thick. Gage kept his eyes off her as she moved around the room, setting up her hot plate and getting out the rations. “beans and salsburies tonight.” Kincaid told him, Gage grunting. He was still working the straps and swallowing down his anxiety. “Aren’t you going to bed soon? Why are you putting your armor back on?” she asked, Gage pausing. His hands hovered over the buckles, and his face got even hotter. The entire thought of her knowing how infatuated he was made his blood run cold and a bit iron lump form in the pit of his stomach. It was like he couldn’t do shit for shit, no matter what it was. Like he couldn’t do right by her.

But she also smiled like she was fond of him.

It made his cheeks bloom and he wanted to scrub it off, he’d do anything to go back to being able to treat this as a job. But… then again…

He’d never had someone look at him that way before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOF! This chapter is pure fluff. Tooth rotting fluff, so different from what I've been musing about on discord (which is everything angsty, natch)
> 
> I'm pretty proud of myself, despite loosing my days off to being hella sick, I still managed to get 5k out on time. 
> 
> also HMU if you wanna add me on discord, I like to throw headcanons at people and shit.


	11. Whats Up Danger?

“Realign the spine Gage!” Kincaid shouted, standing up straight with her rifle in hand. Gage stood at attention- flinching away when an assaultron beam blasted past his cover.

Naturally, the Operators had led them right into a death trap. They had ignored Kincaid’s orders not to enter the Battle Zone without backup, without the Overboss, without anything but ten operators and a Rat Fucker. Now Gage and Kincaid were having to stage a rescue. A rescue that went balls to the wall within minutes of entering the Battle Zone. Kincaid bargained with the AI that ran the robots, F-Four-UST, the two of them in exchange for the four living Operators. Now here they were, four rounds into some gauntlet of fleshy humans versus tireless robots. They’d crushed the eye-bots, completely obliterated the Mr. Handies, and the Protectrons weren’t worth shit against Kincaid’s rifle.

The Assaultrons though? Gage wasn’t sure he was going to get out of this alive.

Fucking insane robots- not even Kincaid’s fancy RobCo ID could save the two of them from the battle royale programming.

He looked back at Kincaid, who had a dangerous glint in her eyes. She looked back at Gage and he shook his head with frantic energy. He tried to beg her not to do it, to convey with his eye that she shouldn’t do what ever she was thinking. She was about to do something stupid, Gage knew it, he could feel it in his fucking bones.

Kincaid smiled and Gage started swearing under his breath as she popped out from cover- running full speed around the arena. Gage pressed his back to the concrete, taking a deep breath before coming out of cover.

Where did he go wrong in his life? Was it deciding to be a raider? Was it Connor? Was it Colter? Was it deciding to put up the first person who murked his boss as the Overboss without any prior vetting?

Gage had done a lot of regrettable things if he thought about it.

Best not to think about it.

Gage laid down cover fire, distracting the two galactic assaultrons that were chasing Kincaid. The bots turned towards him, one of them stalking towards him and shrugging off his bullets. Gage walked backwards, reloading frantically as the assaultron closed the distance between them.

Gage looked up at the seven foot bot, sure he was staring up at his doom. He didn’t want to die like this. He wasn’t going to die like this. He refused to die like this.

He was not about to die in some back end amusement ride to some rejected assaultron that wasn’t even smart enough to not be ran by a maniac AI.

He took the stock of his gun and slammed it into the thing’s face, the robot and causing it to stumble back. It shook its head and Gage brought his gun down again, knocking the bot to its knees. Gage scrambled away, running full speed towards Kincaid’s discarded bag. His gun hung from the straps as he hauled up her pink baseball bat. The bot got up, looking right at him. Gage snarled at it and it tilted its head. It flexed its hand and out of its arm slid a blade, Gage sucking in a breath. The bot charged forward and Gage swung as hard as he could, the bat connecting with the assaultron’s torso.

The bot was knocked off balance, careening into the glass that surrounded the arena. It hit hard enough the glass cracked, Gage snarling as it tried to get up. Nope. Just nope. He was not having any of that, not in the slightest. He ran over full speed, bringing down the heavy metal baseball bat down on its head and neck over and over again. He threw everything into each swing, the metal casing on its head denting and cracking.

When the thing stopped moving Gage took a step back, breathing heavy as he stared down at the mashed electronics below him. Another laser blasted the wall beside him, Gage flinching and turning.

He wasn’t surprised to see Kincaid was on the second assaultron’s back, wrenching on its head. He could smell flesh burning, the cloying scent making his stomach churn. It wasn’t his, which meant Kincaid had gotten hit. He took one step, and then a second, towards the assaultron Kincaid was on. He quickly gained speed, using his momentum to swing the bat right into the bot’s legs. There was a snap and the assaultron’s leg bent at the wrong angle, sending Kincaid and the bot tumbling to the ground in a scramble. As Kincaid rolled away from it Gage started wailing on the head and torso. He could feel his arm twinge with pain with every connection, but he was too hopped up on adrenaline and fear to care. He couldn’t let this thing hurt Kincaid, he couldn’t let it kill him, and he sure as fuck wasn’t going to stop until it was dead.

By the time he stopped, the bat had bent and the bot’s head had rolled away from the body. Gage was wheezing, bent bat clutched tightly in his hands. He looked up, eyes finding the hologram up on its podium. It was slowly clapping, the sound echoing over the empty theatre. There was a smug smile on its projected face, sick joy in its flickering eyes. Gage growled low in his chest, dropping the bent bat and working on reloading his rifle.

Kincaid put a hand on his shoulder, Gage looking over at her. She didn’t have any visible burns, but he could still smell it. “Thanks Gage.” she whispered, Gage nodding. Kincaid scooped up the bat and stared up at the hologram as she took several steps forward. “Whats next?” she asked, the hologram holding its hands out.

“Round Five. The Securitron.” Kincaid made a face, Gage narrowing his eye. The arena rumbled, the floor opening up.

“Fuck me.” Gage grumbled, Kincaid nodding as a ten foot robot on a single wheel ascended. It powered on, the screen in the center of its torso bringing up a picture of a grizzled army veteran looking mother fucker. Kincaid took a step back, clutching the bat tight in her hands. “Run?” Gage asked, Kincaid nodding.

Gage turned and ran, Kincaid following suit as the bot started shooting rockets out of its shoulders. Gage ducked behind a cement block, glaring at the glass ahead as rockets whizzed by. All he wanted out of life was to be able to take what he wanted, when he wanted it, and to shoot anyone who got in his way. He did not want to be hiding behind shitty cover as a death bot rained hell down on his head. Gage bitched quietly, waiting for the explosions to stop. When the barrage was over he popped up, peppering the bot with gun fire.

It did nothing.

Fuck.

Gage ran, the bot wheeling after him as he bolted for new cover. Gage rounded a concrete pillar and looked to where Kincaid had ran, seeing Kincaid climbing up the structures in the arena, fucking around with her rifle.

Great. Ok. He was bait. He could work with that.

Gage heard the crunch of assaultron parts behind him, and he pulled out his pack of cigarettes. If he was going to be maimed by a death bot, he was not going to have a nicotine headache while it happened. He tapped one out as the bot got closer, sticking the cig between his lips before bolting out from cover. He heard the crack of Kincaid’s rifle, the bullet whirling past his bad side. Gage flinched and dropped, rolling behind a concrete block that hadn’t been blown to shit yet. He pulled out his lighter, trying to light his cig as the securitron shambled closer. Gage sucked down a long drag, letting the smoke flow out of his nose as Kincaid’s sniper rifle went off again. He took that as his cue to run again, and tried to make it to the next piece of cover.

It was only a matter of time before he was caught. He knew that, Kincaid knew that, the bot knew that. The hologram? It was banking on it.

It was not banking on the bot being shut down from the outside. Gage heard the massive securitron fall, he heard the crack of the glass screen and the explosions of rockets triggered but unable to escape the ballistic pods on its shoulders. He peeked over the concrete at the dead bot, letting smoke flow from his nose. He looked up to Kincaid, who shrugged.

Gage turned to the podium, the hologram was gone- that was why the bot was disabled and in a heap on the ground. The doors to the arena slid open, Gage looking around frantically. He looked to Kincaid, who was holding her gun tightly, just as confused as he was.

“Ay Boss.” Gage’s head snapped around, his eye locking on Rat Fucker- who was coming up from the control room. “Sorry it took so long, I couldn’t find the right code.” the fucker said, leaning on the chairs outside of the arena. He looked as rough as Gage felt. A few of his Operators were behind him, the ones who weren’t ripped to pieces anyways.

His crew of Operators had ignored Kincaid’s warnings about the Battle Zone and paid the ultimate price for it. Pieces of his crew were strewn all over the audience seats. Pieces of people were sat in chairs like the body parts were watching the carnage inside the arena. Fucking sick robots, they were just as bad as any fucking raider.

“Did you find the STAR Cores?” Kincaid asked, Rat Fucker nodding and holding up three computer boards in his hands. That was good at least, they were getting close to being able to shut down the STAR Command. Gage stumbled out of the arena, making his way over to a mostly clear section of the theatre. He flopped down in one of the open seats, closing his eye and trying to relax as he smoked the last of his cig. He heard the patter of footsteps and he opened his eye, looking up at the raider in front of him.

“Ay, can I bum one off you?” Rat Fucker asked him, Gage making a face. He briefly considered telling the raider to fuck off, but honestly- he was just glad he and Kincaid made it out of that arena and they weren’t dead. He pulled his pack out of his pocket and tapped one out, handing it over. The Fucker lit the cig and pulled a long drag, closing his eyes. At least The Fucker had his own lighter. Kincaid padded over, Gage offering her the last cig in his pack. She took it thankfully, and the three of them sat there and smoked for a few minutes before Kincaid and Rat Fucker got to work stripping the control room below. Gage let them, he was too tired to fucking get protective of Kincaid. She could protect herself, she was a big girl.

Gage stayed in the seat, finishing off his cig before pushing himself up.

The tech below was beyond him, and he wasn’t real sure what he could take that would bring caps in. Instead he decided to nose around the more tourist-y bits of the theatre, where people would go to get their souvenirs. That had never done Gage wrong before.

He ended up making his way into the gift shop, poking around the books. He found a Nuka Cola recipe book he figured Kincaid would enjoy, and a mug that said “I survived the RobCo Battle Zone”. He shoved that into his rucksack after a hearty chuckle. Behind the counter he found a carton of cigarettes and a pack of disposable lighters. When he shambled out of the dark gift shop he found Kincaid herding tired operators towards the doors. She looked like she was going to fall asleep on her feet, and when she turned to him it was damn near the most adorable face he had seen her make.

When she saw Gage she lit up- a tired smile stretching across her face. “There you are! I thought I was going to have to go looking for you.” she sighed, rubbing her face. Gage gave her shoulder a hearty pat and followed The Operators out. The streets were quiet, the roving bot patrols not as prevalent since they had both killed so many and replaced so many of the STAR Cores. The closer they got to STAR Control though, the more the air reeked of danger. Every hair on the back of Gage’s neck stood on end, and he couldn’t resist the urge to keep his rifle at the ready.

The silence by the time they made it to the doors was suffocating. He could hear every piece of fabric rustle, every breath of The Operators. He could hear Rat Fucker chewing on his lip nervously. Gage was about ten seconds from turning and socking the raider right in the mouth if he kept up that particular tic. Kincaid motioned them inside though, saving Rat Fucker’s nose from being punched in so hard it inverted.

As they entered the server room, the AI’s screen descended from the ceiling. It hummed to life and on the screen was the clean cut lady who was too perfect to be true. Apparently using a human face was common for these things, at least- according to Kincaid. Made them easier to relate to. Gage didn’t get it, he didn’t care to get it. He hated this thing and wished Kincaid would just slide some pulse grenades into the servers and call it a day.

“ah, Kincaid. You have retrieved three more cores!” The AI looked pleased as Kincaid worked on plugging them in. “Both the RobCo Battle Zone and Vault Tec: Among The Stars are registering as shut down manually. I hope F-Four-ust did not give you much trouble?” The AI turned to The Operators and Gage, Gage frowning as disgust flitted across its face. Its digital eyes moved, counting The Operators.

Kincaid turned from her task, looking up at the AI. “F-Four-ust tried to have us killed. It put us in the arena with the bots- that was not part of its standard programming.” Kincaid said, sliding the last of the new cores into its slot. The AI stayed silent, Kincaid turning to it. “and it knew we were coming.” She said, The AI tilting its screen.

“Unfortunate. Perhaps it was connected to the main frame, if the surveillance cameras saw your approach it would have triggered the defense matrix in the area.” The AI explained, Kincaid letting out a heavy sigh. She pushed her hair back and nodded, the AI looking pleased as it watched her walk back towards Gage and The Operators. Its eyes were knowing, or maybe Gage was imagining things.

Kincaid turned, hooking her thumbs in her belt loops. “We’ll be back. We need to bolster our numbers and get treated for the injuries we sustained in the Battle Zone.” Kincaid turned on her heel and everyone followed behind her- not giving the AI time to respond. Gage looked over his shoulder one more time, seeing the AI’s computer image standing with its hands behind its back, its face blank as it watched them leave. When it saw him, it gave a little wave with a sinister smile. Gage sneered, turning and walking faster to catch up with Kincaid.

When they made it to the security tunnels, Kincaid turned to Gage.

Her face was like stone, her eyes locked on his. “Its gone rogue.” Kincaid told him, Gage nodding. “It tipped off the AI in the Battle Zone that we’d be coming that way. Thats why it was waiting for us when we responded to the Ops SOS. The thing killed over half of them and left Daniels and his group alive to draw us out.” Kincaid told him, Gage looking over. “It doesn’t want to be shut down.”

He chewed on the information for a minute or two, keeping step with Kincaid. “So Whats the plan boss?” He asked, Kincaid humming.

“Not sure yet.” Kincaid muttered, keeping far enough ahead of The Operators that their conversation wouldn’t go farther then the two of them. Gage kept step, looking over at her. She was so tired, he could see it in her shoulders, in how she moved. She wasn’t bopping around and bouncing like usual, she was stomping, marching almost. She’d admitted it herself, she was private military before she killed her sister. It showed.

The twisting tunnels weren’t great to navigate, but Kincaid’s pip-boy did not lead them astray, and it was better then running into patrols of death bots. Gage was looking forward to getting home, to resting and sleeping and eating. He wanted nothing more then to rest. And maybe smoke. Smoking sounded like a pretty good idea too.

When they entered Nuka Town, The Operators broke off for the parlor right away. Kincaid made a detour to buy bullets and grenades in the market, Gage grabbing food from one of the stalls for Kincaid to much on as they walked back to Fizztop. It almost looked like they were going to get off scot-free, to be able to rest as the sun set.

It was not to be.

Fizztop was not the quiet sanctuary Gage was waiting for. As Kincaid approached the lift it became apparent that they weren’t going to get to rest in peace. William and Mags Black were there in person. Kincaid sucked in a breath and Gage looked at her, feeling the annoyance roll off of her. She pushed past them, shoving her fist into the button to call the lift down. “Boss.” Mags said, Kincaid looking at her over her shoulder. Her eyes narrowed, Gage trying to keep close. He was waylaid by William however, who thought it was a good idea to put a hand on Gage’s armor to stop him. “We need to talk, without your lap dog.” Mags demanded of the Overboss, Kincaid turned to The Operator and narrowed her eyes.

Gage grabbed William’s hand, bending it the wrong way. To William’s credit, he only flinched before Gage let go. Kincaid looked at the two men before looking back at Mags. “No.” she stood tall, her eyes staring unblinking at mags. “I want my second in command with me. You can either deal with that, or you can go shove your hair products up your ass. Now move.” Kincaid growled and Gage couldn’t resist a snort, looking away from Mags and moving onto the elevator. The boss was indignant, the anger flitting across her features for a second before she settled on icy disdain. Kincaid didn’t seemed effected however, and moved to the lift. Kincaid stepped beside him, crossing her arms. The lift ascended, leaving Mags and William below.

“You might regret that, but that was funny as hell.” Gage told Kincaid, who sighed. She looked over at him, cracking a little smile.

“I am so not in the mood for any of the bosses shit today. Not after what we went through in the Battle Zone.” Kincaid untied her hair, letting the curls fall around her shoulders. The lift docked and Kincaid stepped off, shucking off armor as she went. First went her coat, then the metal chest piece. Before long she was hopping on one leg and taking off the shin guards and throwing them in the vague direction of her bed. The lift descended and Kincaid let out an angry groan, Gage laughing quietly.

Kincaid flopped down in one of the arm chairs, Gage bringing over a six pack of Nuka Cola. He set it down and Kincaid muttered a thanks, taking a Quantum and popping the lid off wit her lighter. The lift docked a moment later, Mags and William stepping off. Gage moved to stand behind Kincaid, picking up a rag from the counter as he walked past. As Mags and William sat down, Gage started cleaning his pistol.

“So Boss. We’ve lost twenty men to this conquest of Galactic Zone, and we want to know why.” Mags leaned forward, snagging a Nuka Cola out of the six pack. Kincaid stared at her, eyes narrowed. Mags twisted off the lid and took a sip, waiting for Kincaid. Willaim on the other hand, just stared at the Overboss. Made Gage want to punch him.

Kincaid swirled her quantum, watching the liquid move. “Did Daniels not debrief you yet?” She asked, William opening his mouth. Kincaid gave him a look and he shut his mouth with a clatter of teeth. “Or were you impatient and decided that interrupting the Overboss’s recovery time was more important?” Kincaid sat the bottle down, adjusting in her seat. She was still in dusty leathers and a sweat stained tank-top, accentuating her point.

Mags leaned back, eyes narrowed. “Its been a week and a half since you started the take over of Galactic Zone, we want to know why there have been no results.” Mags told Kincaid. “We’re not getting the scrap we were promised, and we’re loosing bodies like they’re instantly replaceable. They’re not, they require resources to train, resources we’re not getting.”

“The AI in the center of the park is actively working to get us killed, and is triggering traps to protect itself. Its not as simple as cleaning out the broken bots.” Kincaid spoke deliberate and slow, crossing her legs. “As far as I can tell, its taking the salvageable bots we kill and its fixing them. There is literally no end to it- besides sneaking around and replacing the cores so that I can shut down everything.” Kincaid explained, pushing her hair back and leaning into the soft cushions. “This “Job” was not as clear cut as it was sold to me. Its going to take time.” Kincaid growled, Gage suppressing a flinch. He looked back at his pistol, running the rag over the barrel for the fifth time. He knew she said she didn’t harbor any ill will towards him, but it was very involuntary.

“So what does that mean for us?” William asked, Kincaid looking over at him. “There hasn’t been enough scrap to cover the costs, we’re hemorrhaging money.” William leaned back, putting his feet up on the coffee table. Kincaid looked at his dirty boots, then back to his face.

“Its means you get to shut up, get your feet off of my table, and you get to play along for the long haul.” Kincaid growled, William taking his feet down with a pout. “When the park is clear, you get first dibs because you helped clean it out- so for the haul you get hundreds of bots at your disposal, AI programming to play with until your greedy little hearts implode, and so much intact tech scrap your brains are gonna burst.” Kincaid told them both. “But you both keep bothering me, and I’ll give the park to Mason. Can you imagine what target practice his boys would have on all those working eyebots? On the assaultrons?” Kincaid asked, Mags frowning. “How much tech they’d destroy for shits and giggles?”

Mags stood up, setting her Nuka Cola on the table. “I understand Kincaid. Thank you for the clarification, Overboss.” she said, turning to her brother. “William, lets go read the report I am sure Daniels will have for us.” Gage watched them leave, and when the lift dropped from view he let out a heavy breath.

”Jesus she’s a cunt.” he grumbled, looking down at Kincaid. “You doin’ alright boss?” he asked, Kincaid nodding. She stretched in her seat, wriggling to get comfortable. Gage came around and flopped down on the couch, letting out a heavy sigh. “You did good though, you kept control of the conversatin’ and that is half the battle.” He told Kincaid, who nodded and grabbed her Quantum. She sipped it, curled into the chair.

Gage watched her for a moment. “Where did you get burned?” he asked, Kincaid looking up at him with a confused look. “You got burned in the arena, before the securitron.” Gage told her with a lazy hand movement. “I could smell it.” he explained, Kincaid looking at the soda in her hands.

She set the glass bottle down again, waiting a moment before showing Gage reddened palms. “I grabbed the assaultron as its laser was going off so it wouldn’t hit you” Kincaid whispered, Gage leaning forward and taking her hands in his. It looked painful, but she’d obviously used a stim pack. While he was looking over her burns she let out a sigh. “I’m not cut out for this Gage.” she pulled her hands away and Gage looked up at her. She sipped her drink and offered nothing else, Gage letting out a huff.

He was silent for a minute or two, thinking about his wording. “I think you’re doing fantastic boss.” Gage told her, rubbing the back of his neck. She wouldn’t look at him though, and just sipped her drink. “You’re good at controlling the conversations, and commanding the raiders. They respect you, even if they ain’t sure you’re actually the boss yet.” Gage sat back, letting himself sink into the cushions. “Fuck Mags, and fuck William too.” Gage said, Kincaid looking over at him with a frown. “You’ve done more in two weeks then they did in two years.” he let his eye drift shut. “Don’t sweat them boss, they’ll fall into line. Just gotta prove you can do it.” Gage dug around in his pocket for his cigs, crushing the container when he realized it was empty. He took a minute to dig out the carton he found in the gift shop from his rucksack, pulling out a fresh pack. He offered Kincaid a smoke, but she just shook her head.

Gage got up, taking a moment to stretch out his aching muscles. “Alright boss. I’ll leave you to it.” he told her, Kincaid nodding and sipping her Quantum. “If you need me, I’ll be in the grille alright?” he asked, waiting until Kincaid nodded to go turn off the lift. “You ain’t a failure, if thats what you’re worried about.” Gage told her, Kincaid looking over her chair at him. “you do damn good work, they just… ain’t seen it yet. They will though.” Gage shrugged and Kincaid hummed.

“Good night Gage.” Kincaid told him, Gage swallowing down a lump in his throat as he closed the doors behind him.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is only 4.5k, but I still hit my goal of 5k because I also rewrote most of the last chapter this week too. I saw some advice that if I was stuck, it was something 20 lines back and honestly? it really helped out a lot.


	12. Broken Bones

Gage woke up. 

By all means, he shouldn’t have woke up. It was silent and still and quiet, no movement or anyone looming over him. That didn’t stop the anxiety in his guts though, and the primal fear that if he blinked he’d miss someone slipping a knife into his ribs. Gage kept still, his eye half open and hand hanging limp off of the side of his bed. He caught a flash of movement, quick- would have missed it if he wasn’t looking. It looked like someone going from the kitchen into the main room, and that was enough for him to push himself up. He pulled his pistol out from under his pillow, holding it tightly. 

No disciple fuck was going to get the jump on him, or the boss for that matter. 

Gage went from room to room as silent as death, or as close as he could manage to it. He moved from room to room, finding nothing but still air and a sickening sense of growing dread. As he closed the bathroom door a terrible thought flit across his mind. 

What if they had gone to the patio?

Gage moved quickly, padding to the broken double doors. If someone had managed to sneak past him, Kincaid would be fucked. Where would they be without the Overboss? Without someone to lead them, to direct the destruction. These thoughts swirled in his mind as he pushed opened the doors, keeping his pistol ready. He swallowed hard as he peeked inside, his eye taking a moment to adjust to the golden glow of the distant sunrise. 

It was almost peaceful on the patio, just about tranquil. Not cold like someone was lurking in the corner waiting to kill him. Gage stepped inside, looking first to the ramshackle little kitchenette, then to the living area and bed. 

He was greeted by Kincaid stretched out on the couch, long legs stretched leisurely in front of her as she drank directly from a frosted white bottle. Gage paused, Kincaid looking up at him. Relief washed over Gage, and he let out a sigh. They stayed that way for a moment before Gage clicked the safety on his pistol and tucked it into the waistband of his pants. 

All was well, Kincaid wasn’t dead. No disciple shivs in her side, no bullets in her brains. Well... it was all well until Gage registered she was in full gear with her bag at her feet and her guns laid up beside her. Ed-E was plugged into the wall port, charging while Kincaid sat on the couch and downed the booze in that bottle (home made toilet wine, if Gage remembered right). It was like her and the bot were ready to leave, to just vanish into the sunset. Ride off like cowboys in those old holos he watched as a kid. 

Gage’s thoughts came to an abrupt stop. She was leaving. She was going to leave and let him take the fall. He couldn’t even be mad at her… its what he would have done. Their gaze remained locked, the silence stretching out between them. Her eyes remained locked on him, unblinking. It was like she didn’t need to breathe, to move, it was like those eyes could see into his soul. He kept his face neutral, specifically forcing himself to relax. 

He could be jumping to conclusions after all- she could just be getting ready to go back to the Galactic Zone.

It wasn’t likely, but a man could dream right? Gage rubbed at his face and forced a smile onto his lips. “Sorry to bust in boss, thought a Disciple might have made their way in here- something woke me up.” he explained, Kincaid watching him. Her gaze flit to the gun in his waistband, and then back up to his face. She hummed and looked away, taking a drink of her wine. 

The silence was suffocating for Gage. He waited with baited breath for her response. She hummed again, swirling the bottle. “Must have been me, I thought I was quiet enough not to wake you.” she told him, her eyes darting up to watch his reaction. He visibly relaxed, forced himself to calm down really. “I’m real sorry about that Gage, you can go back to bed if you’d like.” she watched him, tilting her head. 

He hooked his thumbs in his pockets, shifting from foot to foot. This wouldn’t do. If he took that offer and went back to bed, she’d be gone by the time his head hit the pillow. He’d be stuck with this mess Colter left behind, stuck with Mags breathing down his neck and Nisha’s knife in his guts. No. Gage was not going to let Kincaid off the hook this fucking easy, she wasn’t going to just walk away from everything they’d done- from the deal they made.

“Nah boss, I’m up now.” Gage told her, rolling his neck. “Looks like you’re ready to go, early start?” he asked diplomatically, giving her an out. She shrugged, not looking at him. “I’ll go grab my shit, I’ll be right back.” Gage turned on his heel and made his way inside, rushing to his bed. Anxiety clawed at his brain, it felt like little bugs squirming under his skin. He absentmindedly scratched his arm and dug around for his rifle. Naturally, when he was in a rush he couldn’t the fucking thing. He groped around under his bed and found it stashed under there, perfect. Now he wouldn’t he a sitting duck with nothing more then a dinky pistol. He slipped on his eye patch and nabbed his rucksack. Just as he was reaching for his armor, he heard the elevator’s generator rumble on. There it was- she was leaving without him.

His armor wasn’t that effective anyways.

He rushed out to the patio, shouldering through the double doors. Kincaid was standing on the lift, Ed-E hovering beside her. Gage hopped over the bar and ran to the elevator, sliding to a stop right beside Kincaid. She looked over, looking almost disappointed. Gage let out a sigh and looked over. “I’m ready to go boss.” Gage told her, shouldering his pack. Ed-E beeped and Kincaid let out a huff, hitting the button on the elevator. 

She was quiet, there was no chatter, no inane comments, just quiet as they rode their way down Fizztop mountain. The silence was going to drive Gage insane, just right up the fucking wall. He sat there awkwardly as they descended from the patio, Kincaid fucking around on her pip-boy. He fidgeted with his rifle, doing last minute checks he would have done inside if he had more time. Last thing he needed was for his rifle to stall on him in the middle of a fire fight. He kept stealing glances at Kincaid, swallowing down the urge to get away from the icy woman. Every instinct he had was screaming at him to run, to not look back. He ignored them, trying to project a confident image.

The elevator stopped with a groan, Kincaid stepping off. Gage followed suit, keeping beside her as she made her way to the north gate of Nuka Town. Gage keep his eyes forward, hyper aware of the looks the Disciples were giving them. This was bad, Gage knew it, Kincaid had to know it- he wished she’d just turn around, go to Galactic Zone, anything at this point. 

But no, it wasn’t even twenty yards out of Nuka Town she turned north east, towards the overpasses and gunner territory. It didn’t help she was still silent too, not a word to him or anyone- not even to her stupid little eye-bot that was beep booping along like this wasn’t a disaster and she wasn’t going to get all of them killed. 

Gage started to lag behind the farther they got from the parks. He knew what was happening and he hated it. She was leaving and she wasn’t even going to look back. She was going to throw him to the wolves, let him die and not even think twice. Who would pause to mourn a person like him any how? Did anyone mourn raiders? Gage swallowed hard, biting his lip and trying to catch up. He eventually just stopped, watching Kincaid march ahead. “Boss.” he yelled, breathing heavily. She turned, looking at him from over her shoulder. “Kincaid please. Talk to me.” Gage asked, shifting from foot to foot nervously. She stared at him, Ed-E continuing the direction she had been going previously without so much as a glance back. She looked back at the eye-bot and then back at Gage. 

He was visibly relieved when she turned to him, walking back over. She stopped in front of him, and he fidgeted. She was quiet still, just staring unblinking like some fucking robot. He didn’t know what to say, what to do to make her go back. “You ain’t that stupid Gage.” she said, shifting her weight to the other foot. “You know exactly what is going on, why did you come along instead of getting the fuck out of dodge?” 

Why did he follow her? Why didn’t he just let her run and then slip out before anyone was the wiser?

Gage looked away from her, crossing his arms and taking a breath. “Because I believed in you,” he said, picking at a scar on his arm. He scratched at the skin while trying to figure out what to say. “I thought we could do it. I still think we can.” Kincaid scoffed and Gage looked at her, feeling anger rising in his guts. “What about our deal? Ain’t it real taboo for a merc to go breakin’ contracts?” Gage asked, licking his lips nervously. He’d seen Kincaid work, and he didn’t want that fancy rifle pointed at him. It still needed to be said though. 

Kincaid laughed, and it was a sick noise that crawled up his spine and caused a solid lump of ice in his stomach. It was far from the soft laughter that made static dance across his skin and butterflies flutter in his stomach. It was cold and humorless. She took a step forward and he backed up out of habit, it didn’t stop Kincaid though, she got right in his face, so close he could feel her hot breath. 

Her eyes were locked on his and a sharp smile stretched across her features. Gage swallowed hard and backed up, stumbling slightly. “I don’t stay in contracts that are gonna get me killed.” she hissed, poking him in the chest. “I’m done Gage. I’m out. And if you’re smart, you’ll scatter too.” Kincaid’s breath stank with the home made wine, Gage flinching away. 

It was too close to Colter. And that? That pissed Gage off.

“So you ain’t nothing but a pussy ass bitch.” Gage growled, Kincaid’s eyes widening. Her eyes narrowed into thin slits, her lip curling up. Gage decided in that moment if he was going to die, he was going to at least say his piece. “you're gonna fucking leave me to die, just so you can go and play cowboy in the commonwealth? I thought we were partners Kincaid! In this shit together!” Gage shoved her back, shaking his head. “You think you’re just gonna go and be free to roam and prance around the flower fields and shoot all the men you please- gonn’ just return to a society that ain’t got no place for women like you?” Gage snarled at her, Kincaid taking another step back. 

Gage followed her, getting right into her face. “You don’t belong with them! You’re violent and messy- sheep like them? They don’t like messy.” Gage let out a heavy breath, narrowing his eye. “You ain’t worth shit! You’re fucking afraid of freedom and what it costs!” Gage spat at her feet. “You ain’t nothing but a fucking coward!” 

Kincaid reeled back, and Gage heard the slap connect before he felt it. He fell, hitting the ground hard. Kincaid took a step back, Gage looking up at her. “How dare you!” she hissed as she pulled her shot gun out of its holster, Gage scrambling back. He wiped his bloodied lip with the back of his hand as Kincaid took a step forward. “You’re a fucking raider, don’t you talk shit to me about cowardice!” Kincaid spat on him and he flinched. “You don’t even have the fucking courage to take the reins yourself! No! You just paint a target on some sucker’s back and pull the strings so that you don’t get fucking shot!” 

Kincaid cocked her shotgun and Gage’s blood ran cold. “You ain’t even got the courage to make an honest living! Instead you’d rather steal and murder and pillage just so you can be comfortable! You’d rather stand on the back’s of others instead of working for yourself and making something outta your life!” Gage watched her gun as she gestured with it, sure he was going to get shot. It’d be the least he deserved, anyway. “You’ve said it yourself! You painted a target right on my back! You wouldn’t care either way if I was killed! I’m just another pawn for a grand scheme!” she stood up straight, holstering her shotgun. Gage looked at her and her hand moved to a black box on her belt. “I'm done Gage. I ain't dyin' for you, I ain't dyin' for nobody!” Kincaid snarled, taking a step back. Gage’s eye widened as she shimmered into nothing, just gone like she was the wind. 

He pushed himself to his feet, looking around. He couldn’t stop shaking, his breath coming in short wheezy gasps. He didn’t expect to live through that, honestly- not when the shotgun came out. But here he was, alive.

And alone. 

If he went back to Nuka Town without Kincaid? He was a dead man. Gage repressed a shiver and groped at his pockets, searching in vain for his cigs. He let out a disappointed noise when he realized he’d left them back in Fizztop, on his bedside table. Fuck. Gage kicked at a rock and swore quietly under his breath. He didn’t want it to end like this- they were making progress! They almost had Galactic Zone! Now? He had fifty two caps, a hand made rifle and a couple of clips for it, his belt shiv, and his pistol. He didn’t even have his boot knife. Gage let out a sigh, looking around. There was next to no where to go- he could wait until night fall, hop the tram to the wealth and find a gang to join with there…

But gangs in the wealth were stupid, and it wouldn’t be enough protection from the wrath Nisha was sure to bring down on his head. She was going to rip him open, bring her blade from his dick to his fucking collar bones. She’d open him up like a carpet bag, letting his intestines spill out onto the dirty floors of the Disciples lair. She’d hit him with a stim too, let him live to see her cutting out organs, he’d live to see her peel the flesh back on his torso, he’d live to see her break open his rib cage. Then, when he was just about to die, she’d take his fucking good eye, scoop it out with a spoon real slow like- just watch him try to squirm and laugh as more and more of his insides fell out in as he writhed in panicked-

Gage’s eye shot open and he retched, shaking violently. His stomached tried to empty itself, but all he got was dry heaves. He hadn’t eaten since the day before- and not since they’d been in Galactic Zone. He wheezed, clutching his gut and drooling on his boots. He crouched down and held his head, his eye screwing shut. 

He tried to banish Nisha from his thoughts, tried not to think of the pressure of her knife against his stomach, how she spoke when she said he had one last chance. He tried not to think of the people around him when she pulled him into their den- the flesh-less bodies still alive and crying for mercy, the organs on the floor-

Gage’s eye snapped open and he stood up, picking up his rucksack and his gun and picking a random direction to start walking in. He put one foot in front of the other, hands clutching his few belongings in a tight white knuckle grip.

He wasn’t going to be Nisha’s next play thing, if he had to make it all the way to ronto- or even new reno, he would. He kept walking, the over pass looming out from the mountains like some big concrete old world snake. If he followed that, it was twenty five miles to the wealth, then a ways more to Bunker Hill- From Bunker hill he could hop a caravan to anywhere. 

He just had to make it that far. 

Gage didn’t feel the trip wire, nor did he pay attention to the creak under his boots until it was too late. The ground fell out from under him and he was plunged into a deep pit. He hit the ground hard, his left leg twisting at an unnatural angle. He let out a cry, and then a string of curses as he tried to push himself up from the cold wet dirt. He shoved himself up into a sitting position and hissed as he tried to move his leg. Fuck. He looked up at the light above him, squinting. It had to be a ten or twelve foot drop, man made. 

Fucking Gunners. 

Gage let out a breath and laid his head against the dirt wall. He let out a shaking breath before pushing himself to his feet, favoring his left side as he looked up. It wouldn’t be a hard climb, well… usually. Gage went to reach up when the pit was covered in darkness, he recoiled, falling on his ass as he gazed up at three figures above him. They were clad in military fatigues, one of them had a syringer rifle. 

That was all Gage remembered. 

He woke up groggy, someone smacking his bad cheek with the flat of their hand. His good eye fluttered open and he looked up, a little shit in a military uniform was smacking his face. Gage tried to push him away but his arms were restrained. The little fucker was saying something, but Gage couldn’t hear him through the aura of an oncoming migraine. Gage blinked and tried to flinch away, but the fuck grabbed him by the chin.

“what’s your fucking name?” the man growled, Gage’s vision blurring. Gage coughed and the man let go of his face. Gage leaned forward the moment he wasn’t supported and couldn’t help the drool that dripped from his lips. It dawned on Gage that he was fucked up, what ever they pumped him full of was stronger then the average chem- or a very high dose. At least he wasn’t in much pain, though he figured that was going to wear off soon. The light in the center of the room was so bright and harsh, it made Gage’s eyes water.

The man turned to someone out of Gage’s field of view. “Jesus how much fucking Med-x you pump him with!?” the man asked, someone far off responding. “We’ll this one is taking it a lot worse then the others do!” the man snarled, turning back to Gage. He was sitting on a table, and Gage was tied to a chair. The room was barren, as far as Gage could tell.

Gage blinked a few times, trying to get his bearings. This was bad, but he’d been in worse situations. The man grabbed him again and Gage flinched, trying to pull away. “What. Is. Your. Fucking. Name?” The man asked, Gage sneering. He spat in the man’s face and got pistol whipped for his trouble. His world burst into stars, and Gage couldn’t come up with any witty response in any timely matter. The man was still yelling at him, and now it was very hard to focus. 

The man pulled back and Gage straightened up, spitting at the Gunner. “Ya’ll really shouldn’t start with the head, people get dizzy.” Gage drawled, slurring as he tried to focus. The man hit him again and Gage felt his tongue get caught in his teeth. He spat out blood and laughed, looking up at this Gunner punk. He seemed to think that this whole tough guy act was going to get him anything more than mockery. Gage took a breath, trying to center himself. 

The Gunner grabbed him by his bloodied tank top, Gage leaning away from him. His breath was fucking nasty. “What is your name?!” the Gunner asked, Gage glaring at the Gunner. The fucker pulled back and punched Gage in the nose, Gage reeling slightly as blood ran down his lips and chin. “What is your fucking name, raider asshole?” the man snarled, Gage licking his lips. Not the first time his nose was broke, likely not the last either. 

“Porter James Gage.” Gage told him, spitting at his feet. “Fucking call me Gage.” he sighed, moving slightly against his bonds. He might be able to squirm out of them, the ropes didn’t feel that tight- and if he could get his hands free he could get to the shiv on his belt. With that, well- escape was a possibility. 

If this fucker left him alone. 

“and what, Gage- is your role in Nuka World? What gang do you belong to? You ain’t wearing any specific colors- you a roamer?” the man asked, leaning forward. Gage let out a huff, squirming slightly. The pain was starting to come back, and the flouresent light wasn’t helping with his migraine- though he doubted getting hit upside the head with the grip of a gun did much for it either. 

Gage looked up at this asshole, he was young- maybe twenties, thirty at most. Fuckers got this one young. “I’m a roamer yeah, work direct for the Overboss.” Well, he worked for the overboss, before she decided to fucking cut and run. “I manage shit for the Overboss, usually work outta Nuka Town.” Gage told him, minimizing his position. The Gunners were in no position to take on the Nuka World gangs, but if Gage played his cards right maybe they would protect him in exchange for information. He knew the most about the parks after all- well, aside from RedEye. 

The man looked down at him, squinting. “If you work outta the main den, why did we capture you all the way out here?” Shit. Gage stiffened up, the Gunner brat smiling. “You want to know what I think?” No, Gage had no urge to know what this asshole thought. Too bad he was going to share anyways. “I think you pissed off the boss.” the gunner sat back, pulling a knife from a sheath on his hip. He played with it in his hands, looking up at Gage. “You got thrown out, didn’t you?”

Gage laughed, leaning back on the seat. “Nah, came out because I heard rumor of a stash of caps about this way- ended up loosing my footing.” Gage lied, trying to project confidence. He wasn’t sure if it was working, but with how the Gunner frowned- it must have thrown a wrench into his line of thought. “An operator told me that it was the perfect place, a huge stash of caps guarded by Gunners who ain’t even know what they were sitting on.”

The Gunner looked to someone behind Gage, Gage craning his neck to see. He got smacked upside the head for his efforts- the Gunner getting up and walking a circle around Gage’s chair. “So- say you’re telling the truth.” Gage smirked, looking up at the Gunner as the boy made sure to chose his words carefully. “You seem, more eloquent then the average raider.” No shit. “Would you be willing to exchange information about Nuka World in exchange for your freedom?” The Gunner asked, leaning against the table. Gage sucked in a breath, naturally- he expected this, but he also knew that Gunners could be trusted about as far as you could throw them. 

Gage looked down, then back at the Gunner. “How do I know you’re gonna keep your end of the bargain and not just throw me to the wolves the moment I sing?” Gage asked, leaning back in the chair. He squirmed at the ropes some more while the Gunner was distracted. If he could just get his hands free-

The Gunner smiled, tilting his head. “I could just, kill you instead.” he said, Gage frowning. “You have nothing to loose, and everything to gain Gage.” the Gunner leaned forward as he spoke, taking Gage’s chin in his hand. “And if you don’t tell me everything, I will make the last hours of your life a living hell.” he said, bringing up the knife to Gage’s throat. Gage flinched away, making a face. The Gunner applied pressure and Gage grunted as he pulled on his restraints, trying to get his hands free.

The crack of a sniper rifle echoed through the air, the Gunner looking up. “The fuck?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. He pulled the knife away from Gage and slid it back into its sheath. He hopped off the table and left Gage tied to the chair, moving through a door Gage couldn’t see. Gage fidgeted in his seat, swallowing nervously. 

From that reaction, it wasn’t one of their own- maybe an Operator? He knew they came out this way sometimes. He doubted he’d get much sympathy from any raiders that found him like this- the fucking boss left, it wasn’t like they were going to comfort him, they’d shank him the first chance they got. He pulled on the ropes a little harder, trying to move his legs too. Those were tied to the chair though, and he made no headway on them. 

Another sniper shot rang out, sounds of confusion fluttered in through the door. Gage swallowed hard, looking over his shoulder. He started to hear screaming, panic and mayhem falling on the Gunner camp. The rifle fired four more times, other guns going off in the distance. They must have spotted the sniper. Gage pulled on his arm, his wrist popping as he kept pressure. He grunted as he felt the bones snap out of place, his hand slipping free of the ropes. “Fuuuuuck.” Gage groaned, trying to flex his hand. It would have to do, it wasn’t like he had a lot of time. The sounds of battle were getting louder, and the Gunners sounded like they were loosing. Gage went for his belt, shakily pulling the shiv out from behind the buckle. He started to saw at the ropes, looking over his shoulder and trying to keep an eye on the door. 

Somewhere in the screams Gage heard someone yell about a death claw, and that lit a fire under his ass. That would suggest The Pack, who he knew had been trying to capture a claw for a long ass while. If Mason found him all tied up here? he’d slit his throat and blame it on the gunners- no harm, no foul. Nisha would be pissed, but what was she gonna do? Torture Gage’s corpse? 

Best not think of that.

Gage shook his head, getting through the first rope. He squirmed a little bit, testing the tension before going to going to town on the next one. The gun fire was getting closer, the screams were getting closer, what ever they were fighting? It was getting too close for comfort. Gage pushed off the second rope, but his other hand was still tied to the back of the chair. It was an awkward angle, and his wrist was throbbing painfully. The Gunner burst in through the door and knocked Gage to the ground, but the bastard wasn’t focused on him- no, what ever was through the door had one hundred percent of that man’s attention. A bullet ricochet off the light, causing it to swing wildly. Gage twisted, trying to get a look. 

“Stay back! Stay back!” The Gunner cried, firing off his gun at the dark doorway. Gage twisted, trying to get his other hand free. His cheek was pressed to the cold cement, his breathing becoming panicked as a dark figure stepped over the chair and towards the Gunner. The man screamed before it descended on him. Gage tried to squirm away, push himself away, anything- anything to get away from the screams and pooling blood. The Gunner’s armor came off and the screams got louder and more frantic, Gage trying to get away. He flinched as the blood got on his face, trying to pull his other wrist out of the ropes. He froze as the figure pulled up from the gunner, wiping their mouth with the back of their hand. They turned towards him and their eyes flashed in the swinging light. 

His heart skipped a beat.

Kincaid stared at him from her place on the Gunner’s twitching corpse. She stared down at Gage, blood smeared across her face. She was covered in blood, her hands stained red. She licked her fingers, letting out a sigh.

She looked back to the corpse, digging around in the body and pulling out… a liver? Maybe? Gage retched as she stuck it in her mouth, chewing it slowly. He looked away, swallowing hard and trying to ignore the squelching noise. She swallowed and sighed, picking through the body. She looked over at Gage, letting out a hum. "I've got you, don't worry, they're all dead now.” Kincaid spoke slowly, crawling over to him. She pulled a knife out of her boot, cutting the rope. Gage pushed himself up, trying to wipe the blood off of his face. He was shaking like a leaf, Kincaid holding him up by his upper arm. She sat him against the table, pulling a handkerchief out of her coat. She wiped at his face and he winced, pulling away. She sighed, shaking her head. 

“The fuck!” Gage asked her, Kincaid wincing. Gage turned to her, looking her up and down. “Why?” he asked, Kincaid tilting her head. “Why did you fucking come back?” Gage asked, palming at his eye. 

She looked away, pushing her hair back. "I thought I could just leave. just break away. snap. clean break. can't do it. in too deep." she said, licking her fingers. Gage retched, turning away from Kincaid. That was- comforting. He guessed… probably. He felt like he was going to be sick, and the slurping wasn’t helping. His head was aching so bad he couldn’t think straight, and the smell of death was beginning to overwhelm him. He left her in the room, stepping out of the interrogation room. It was long after the sun set, the darkness comforting- until his eye adjusted. 

The overpass was a blood bath. 

Gage retched, looking away and walking to the edge. He sat down on the edge and let his head fall into his hands. He didn’t hear Kincaid approach, but he felt it in his bones and expected it when she started rubbing his back. “I’m sorry Gage.” she told him, sitting down. “I’m sorry I slapped you, I’m sorry I left.” She leaned against his arm, laying her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry I left you and you were going to have to go back and face the consequences of my actions.” Gage looked over, swallowing down the lump in his throat. 

Gage stared out at Nuka Town, letting out a heavy sigh. He wanted to go home and sleep, but he sure wasn’t going to get to go home tonight. “Its ok Kincaid. I said some shit I didn’t mean.” Gage told her, rubbing his face. “Well, I meant it- but not like that. You’re too damn good for those fucking settlers.” Gage sighed, leaning his head against hers. He coughed, closing his eye and frowning. “You didn’t tell me you were a cannibal.” 

“Only on sundays.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 18 minutes late! BUT I DID IT!
> 
> its been a week- I've been looking at housing and being trained to be a waitress (which I am not sure I want to do- way too high of stress holy shit) so this week was busy as fuck. plus on top of that this last wednesday I went to the valley, so that wiped me out too. 
> 
> I've been looking forward to this chapter for a long while, it was one of the anchor scenes that I've had planned from the start.


	13. Kings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The upate is chapter 3, I ended up adding about 7k to chapter during the rewrite 2 so I broke it into 2.

Gage didn’t remember much about getting back to Fizztop. He didn’t remember a lot of things about that night. He knew it was dark, cold and uncomfortable. He knew he had a migraine, which was made worse by being pistol whipped and punched. He remembered Kincaid. How warm she was...

He knew it wouldn’t take long for the Med-X to wear off after she had released him from the Gunners, but he sure wasn’t expecting the pain that creeped into his consciousness, like a bad dream, as they rooted around in the Gunner armory. He collapsed, he remembered that much. His leg gave out and he hit the cement hard. It had scared Kincaid.

He remembered, too, thinking about what she said as he lay on the ground, with her going over him like a worried mother hen. She’d said she was only a cannibal on sundays, but it was clearly a thursday night. She couldn’t help but laugh when he pointed this out. Shaking her head like he’d told her the most cringe worthy joke.

“It’s an expression,” she said as she pulled him to his feet. He leaned so heavy on her. Kincaid had to support most of his weight as they made their way to the lift. “I don’t do it often. Usually only when I’m hopped up on psycho.”

She kept her words soft, making sure not to aggravate his migraine further. Gage appreciated that. She tried not to jostle him too much as the elevator descended. When ED-E met them on the ground, she told the bot to keep quiet. Told it that he had a splitting headache. That didn’t cover the half of it, but Gage appreciated the sentiment.

The next thing he remembered was stumbling so badly him and Kincaid hit the ground. He laid there in the dirt, content to just be still and let the cold take him. His head hurt so badly, his entire leg in so much pain it had almost gone numb. Almost. Kincaid wasn’t content to lay on the ground, though, and was frantically doing something on her pip-boy. It didn’t concern Gage too much, so he let his eye drift closed.

He felt hands on him, lots of them, and the rev of motors and raiders whooping. It made his head ache worse, so he tried to cover his ears. He had no luck though, as he was wrapped snugly in something- something soft and warm. Whatever it was, was too tight for him to move his arms or legs. His eye was swollen shut, overtaking his vision. If it hadn’t been for Kincaid beside him, murmuring to him that it would be alright, that he was going to be ok, he would have panicked.

The next thing he remembered was Mackenzie’s cold calloused hands, and voices low and in the distance. He was freed from whatever they had wrapped him in, and the cold started seeping into his bones again. Mackenzie was talking to someone as she worked on him.

“You said they dosed him with Med-X?”

A distant-sounding voice confirmed it. He couldn’t tell what the voice was saying, but it sounded like Kincaid.

Mack hummed. “That’s inconvenient.”

No shit.

Gage tried to move, tried to roll over or do something, anything. The doctor kept him still though, and he felt the quick prick of a needle into the meat of his shoulder and the burning sensation of a chem in his system.

His mind began to fog over once more, and the last thing he heard was Mackenzie saying something about needing him calm for when she got to his leg.

He woke again in Fizztop with Mackenzie’s cold, calloused hands on him again.

“The stims worked, it looks like. The damage on his leg has healed significantly. He’s still going to have to wear a brace for a week or two, but there are far worse things than that.”

It was Mackenzie speaking, but he did not know to whom. He hadn’t the strength to open his eye yet. His body ached, like he’d been run over thrice by the pack’s ATVs. But he was alive, and Kincaid was in the parks.

As long as that was the case, he didn’t have to worry about being disemboweled. That put him more at ease then the chems ever could.

“When do you think he’s going to wake up?” a familiar soft, bubbly voice asked. Kincaid.

“Any time now, honestly.” Mackenzie told her. He felt her stand, and heard the clatter of something on the bedside table. “If the pain gets to be too much, give him a half dose of one of these.”

Kincaid hummed, likely nodding in agreement. “Thank you doc, I appreciate it.”

Kincaid’s voice was so soft, so tired sounding. Had she slept?

Gage tried to open his eye, his body sluggish as he tried to move.

“Boss?” he called out hoarsely. Kincaid was instantly at his side, laying him back down on his back. Her hand took his.

“Gage, it’s okay. Don’t worry. Everything is alright.” Kincaid murmured as she ran her thumb across his knuckles.

He blinked slowly as he finally opened his eye. Everything was slow, from his breathing to the sounds he was hearing. He turned his head to look at Kincaid.

Jesus, she looked exhausted. It was like she hadn’t slept in days. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, and was in some sort of casual day dress. Her hair was pulled back loosely to keep it out of her face.

Mackenzie was in the back, far behind Caid. It looked like she was heading for the elevator. “He’ll be alright, Boss. He’s just coming down from the Med-x. He doesn’t abuse it like everyone else in this park, no offense.”

Kincaid laughed softly. Gage liked that laugh. Liked it far more than the cold laughter she had given him outside of the park. This one was warm, kind, soft.

Gage enjoyed soft things.

He lay still for Kincaid as she spoke for a little while more with the doctor. Her thumb absentmindedly was still going across his knuckles as she conversed. When the doctor made her way into the elevator, Kincaid turned back to him. Worry was written into her features.

“What happened?” Gage asked. Kincaid sighed.

She rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand, the worry on her face growing more apparent. “The gunners broke your leg. I had no idea they’d done that. You were walking just fine, and then while we were looting things, you just fell. Tried to explain it away as you lost your footing. But it was obvious that they’d done more damage than you were willing to admit.

“You were so disoriented I was afraid I was going to lose you if you passed out.”

Kincaid’s voice hitched and she looked away.

Gage frowned. He didn’t like seeing her sad. It hurt his heart. He squeezed her hand and she looked back at him. Brought her back to the present.

“Your leg was broke in four places, Gage. Mackenzie hit you with stims, but you’re still going to need to be on rest for a while more.” She leaned back in her chair, shaking her head. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He struggled to find the words, to get the thoughts from his head out. “I didn’t realize it was that bad.” he rasped. Kincaid let out a huff. “My leg was numb.”

He let his eye slide shut for a moment. It was so hard staying awake, everything was so exhausting. She held his hand while he tried to focus, to find the words.

“I’m sorry, Gage.” She said with a sigh. He opened his eye again as she spoke and forced himself to focus. “Its my fault this happened. I’ll make it right for you. I promise.”

She squeezed his hand gently. He smiled softly at her and sighed. She let his hand go and he watched her as she stood up. “Let me get you some water.” She murmured as she headed towards the kitchen. “You sound so hoarse from the painkillers.”

Gage stared up at the ceiling as he waited for her to come back. If this had happened with Colter, he would have been a dead man. There was nothing else to say about it. Colter would have likely killed him.

But look at him now. Lying here in what was definitely not his old mattress... being waited on by the Overboss herself.

How things change.

Gage went to sit up, but fell back against the pillow as lancing pain shot up from his leg with a stifled groan when he tried to move. He looked at the blanket that was over him. It was the one from Galactic Adventure, which meant she had made good on bringing the mattress back. Gage smiled at the thought as he carefully wiggled himself against it, getting himself comfortable.

Kincaid came back with a couple of cans of water and set them down on Gage’s bedside table. She opened one and helped him sit up by propping his head and shoulders up with pillows. He felt so heavy, he was surprised she could move him with such ease. She brought the can to his mouth and he drank greedily as thirst overcame him. When he had his fill, she laid him back down and pulled the blankets around him.

“Rest Gage. Everything will be alright.” she assured him. Gage looked up at her drowsily.

He tried hard to fight through the mental fog from the chems. “What about the bosses?” He slurred. No answer.

“What did you tell them?” He asked more urgently. Kincaid’s gaze fell to her lap. If she’d told them the truth, they’d both be dead right now. But she still was too sincere, too trusting. Pangs of worry filled his chest as his eye locked on her face. She picked at the chipped nail polish on her fingers.

“I told them we had spotted a group of Gunners that was too close for comfort, and went out to hunt for sport. They captured you, and I got you back.” She said, looking up. Gage relaxed. That was believable. Something that wouldn’t raise suspicion.

She looked away guiltily. “I won’t leave again, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m in too deep now. Wouldn’t be a clean break.”

Gage squinted, but said nothing. He had to remember to ask her about that, when the fog cleared. Not right now though. His eyelid was too heavy, and his brain was slowing down even more. He wanted to tell her not to worry, that he didn’t hold it against her. He wanted to tell her it was what he would have done.

The Med-X finally overtook him once more before he could act upon it, however.

When he next opened his eye, he was alone in the grille. He sat up and palmed at his good eye. He glanced over at his bedside table. On it was a note, his eye patch, and a couple of cans of water.

He grabbed the note and began to read.

Gage,

I’m going to the market to get provisions, and then I’m accepting an invite to be a guest on the raider radio. I was hoping you’d be awake by then, so you wouldn’t have to wake up alone. I’ll be back tonight. Please rest.

\- Kincaid

Gage folded up the note and tucked it under his mattress. He looked around, trying to find a train of thought to follow. He was still suffering from the lingering chems, but was far clearer than before. He tried to remember what happened on the overpass, but he had such a headache that he couldn’t focus.

He’d been hit in the face, knocked around. That wasn’t anything new, but when did they break his leg? He lifted the covers and took a look at it. He was in only his tank top and a set of dingy boxers. His leg was in a heavy duty brace. He tried to think back, tried to figure out what happened. His eye widened when the memory came flooding back.

The fall. It was only ten or twelve feet. Could that have been it?

He frowned, staring at the brace. It must have been, unless the gunners broke it while he was out. But that wasn’t their style... He looked around the room and spotted a crutch leaning against the headboard. He reached for it and grabbed it before using it as leverage to pull himself up from the bed. He stood shakily for a moment and leaned on the old wooden thing. After he steadied himself, he hobbled around fizztop, gathering things before taking them to his bed.

The paperwork submitted by the gangs, his ledger, a calculator, a couple of cans of water, and a old busted radio that only tuned in to a single channel. He grabbed some snacks out of the kitchen, too. He shoved chips in his mouth as he hobbled back to his bed. He could feel the exhaustion edging at his head, but he wasn’t willing to sleep again. He sank into the soft mattress and rest his head against the wall before letting out a happy noise. He started flipping through the books, eyeing his previous entries as he looked for a blank page. His handwriting wasn’t the best he’d seen, but the numbers were clear. He flipped to a blank page and turned on the radio. The shrill feedback made him wince as it tuned in.

“Y'all are a bunch of psychopaths! And I LOVE you for it!” Redeye declared. Gage sighed as he started to tally up raid profits. He started with the operators, because they were always a doozy.

“We got something real special for you today! The Overboss HERSELF is coming down in a few minutes to share what it’s like being the big boss. I know y'all been wondering, and I have too: What kinda place makes a woman like THAT?” Gage asked himself the same question, though he knew she didn’t come out of the Mojave.

Gage scratched the back of his head and shoved a handful of chips into his mouth. Russell wasn’t so bad, when he wasn’t being an annoying fucker. The shit could even be endearing when he tried hard enough. When Russell joined up with the gangs two years back he was nothing but a drifter who smoked weed, so Colter named him Redeye- he didn’t want to bother remembering some snot nosed brat who was probably going to die when they took the parks. The fucker survived though, and when Colter started bitching about there being nothing to listen to this far out from the wealth, Gage knew just the loud mouthed fucker to run the radio.

Gage had helped him set up the radio in exchange for the kid’s technical know-how. Gage needed a way to keep an eye on the park, Russell needed someone to help him get everything connected. The two of them worked pretty close together to get into Nuka World’s main frame, getting the security cameras up and running again. With those, Gage could keep an eye on almost everything, and Russell could keep up to date on the happenings going on around the park for his little news segments.

Colter didn’t know the half of what they found, and they both decided to keep it that way. They developed a mutual trust of sorts, Gage keeping the heat off the DJ when he went too far and Redeye keeping him posted on anything that might upset the peace. Redeye was one of the few people Gage could say was a friend.

Well, as close as raiders get to being friends, anyhow.

Gage listened to the idle chatter as he worked. It was your typical newscast for the Raider Radio - Don’t go to that park, someone found an ear on the swans, this Operator and that Disciple got caught fucking - Typical raider shit. It was good white noise, at least.

Gage frowned at the Operator’s numbers and let out an annoyed sigh. They were skimming twice as much as they usually took. He was going to have to send a runner to Mags to tell her to cut that shit out. They couldn’t just screw over the boss like that. She knew better, and was just pushing the first report to see if she could get away with it. Gage pulled some scrap paper out of his ledger, writing out a note and setting it on his bedside table.

It was a simple letter, straight and to the point. All it said was “Knock it off.” and was signed by Gage. The Operator Boss would know exactly what he meant, and if she threw a fit he’d have the ledger to point to. It was ideal, honestly.

Gage heard RedEye pipe up as he moved to the Disciples’ numbers.

“And here’s the iron lady herself, Kincaid! You got a last name, gal? Or ya name just Kincaid?” Redeye asked, Gage humming. He’d wondered that himself, though it didn’t seem important enough to actually ask.

Gage perked up from his work as he heard soft laughter drifting through the speakers.

“Just Kincaid. I don’t go by anything beyond that and the Courier Six.” He could just imagine the casual lean against the broadcast desk, the head tilt as she spoke. Gage looked back down at the ledger, counting cap numbers versus the market prices on the scrap. Nisha’s work was bare, but her numbers added up. Gage could appreciate that. Made this shit easy on him.

“The Courier six, huh? So you worked as a mailman before becoming the baddest bitch in the wealth?” Redeye asked as he idly strummed on his guitar. The DJ had no idea, after things Gage had seen, he never wanted to be on the wrong end of Kincaid’s rifle.

Kincaid laughed again. It didn’t sound forced or anything, just... sincere. Gage liked that about her, even if it was a liability. She was always sincere.

“You fuckin’ bet, I was THE mother fucking mailman.” Kincaid bragged, “I’ve run shit from the Bone Pit to Vegas herself. Hell, I walked the divide and survived!”

She spoke with confidence, Gage knew it was true too, regardless. Shit she was sayin’ matched up to what Shank had found, and what the tales coming out of the mojave described. Gage couldn’t make shit like that up up if he tried.

“So what sorta shit did you do in the mojave?” Redeye asked Kincaid, playing idle notes while she spoke.

“Well, I killed dictators and pissed off the New California Fuckwits, I killed and I murdered and I pillaged my way across the mojave and zion, became a kahn, lifted a plane out of lake mead and got it flying again-” Kincaid started listing things idly, and Gage could imagine that she was counting on her fingers.

“Say what now?” the DJ asked, sounding confused. Gage could empathize, he was the same way when Shank had brought it up. The stories were wild, one tale said she raised it using arcane magic from the long before times- others said she didn’t raise it at all and that when she walked to the edge of lake mead it headed her call and came to the surface like a a great beast. The truth was far more mundane, which Gage was realizing tended to be the case with Kincaid.

Most of the time, anyways.

“I took a rebreather, went down to the bottom of lake mead, deployed balloons inside a old world plane, rose it to the surface, and helped some friends of mine get it running.” She said, as if that was nothing, as if all of this was just another tuesday. Gage snorted, shaking his head with a chuckle as he lit a cig and pulled Mason’s books over. He opened the report, and just let his shoulders sag.

He always dreaded the Pack’s ledgers. They were incomprehensible, complete gibberish to anyone but the pack themselves. Gage rubbed his face, letting out a quiet groan. He could put it off, but then he’d just hate himself later.

“And what are your friends doing with it?” Redeye asked, Kincaid laughing. Gage looked over at the radio, eye half closed.

“Fuck if I know, I just told them don’t bomb Vegas. They’d be shot down in a heartbeat” Gage could imagine the shrug so easily, it would be nonchalant, like she didn’t give a care in the world.

Gage didn’t think he’d ever heard Russell stunned to silence before. The Dj stuttered a little bit, trying to find his train of thought. Gage looked back to the ledger and got to work on deciphering it, going line by line and rewriting everything.

“Moving along, You mentioned the Kahns before, you mean THE Kahns right? As in the biker gang? Terrors of the midwest?” Redeye asked, Kincaid chuckling slightly and making a “mmmhmm” noise before elaborating.

“The Mother fucking Kahns, one and the same.” Kincaid told him, sounding proud as hell. “I lived with them for a few months and worked out a treaty between the ruler of vegas and Papa Kahn, they’d get to ride on out of the mojave unscathed if they helped push back the legion.”

Gage heard fabric move, and Russell made a noise like he was shocked. “Got that scar during my beat down. Got hit with a beatin’ stick and still stood up. Got named a kahn after doing that and convincin’ Papa Kahn the legion wasn’t shit and that they were just planning on turning the Kahn’s into their slave anyway. The legion did that shit with every other gang of tribals they joined up with.” Kincaid sounded a little bitter, Gage taking note. Maybe she used to be a tribal before she was drafted by that private military she mentioned.

“And who were the legion? I mean we all know the tales, and some of us have seen the aftermath- but who were Caesar’s legion really?” Redeye set aside his guitar, if the clanging was any indication.

“The legion was a buncha raiders with principles.” Kincaid told the DJ, sounding disgusted. “Raiders who thought they had the moral high ground in everything, from the way they dressed to the old world civilization they based themselves on. Acting like they weren’t just doing what they had to do to survive like the rest of us, HAH.” Kincaid shifted, and Gage could feel the disgust in her voice as she spoke.

“Everything for the war machine, the community over the individual. You are only worth what you bring to the whole. Disabled? Fuck off. A pacifist? useless.” Kincaid growled. “And women? Women weren’t worth SHIT.” Kincaid sounded pissed, more ticked then anything Gage had heard from her yet- save her interaction with Nisha.

“Women were to give them children, and their worth is in standing around and looking pretty for the men folks who waged glorious war in the name of Caesar!” she put a grand flourish on that and Gage could imagine she must of heard it plenty by how she said it. “Maybe, if we’re smart- we could probably be a nurse or a midwife, or wed a important senator that was working to make the world Civilized.” Kincaid spat out the word, Russell remaining silent. “Someone like me though? Someone who didn’t put up with that shit? Someone disgusting and messy and loud? No place in Caesar’s legion. I ain’t nothin’ but a profligate.”

“Jesus.” Redeye muttered.

“Now as you can probably tell, I did not much care for that.” Kincaid said, moving a little ways from the mic. Her voice was softer now, Gage completely ignoring the books to listen to her little tell tale. “And when Caesar ordered me to go destroy Mr. House’s robot army, he sure didn’t ask nice.” Kincaid snorted, letting out a little laugh that made Gage smile.

Another voice came through the speaker, a man, his voice deep and commanding- and fucking pretentious. “You’re gonna go destroy that bunker, then you’re going to come back and tell me about it.” Kincaid spat, loudly.

“Holy shit boss, the fuck was that? Were you possessed or some shit?!” Redeye asked, Gage tilting his head.

“No no no no, I just can mimic voices is all.” Kincaid explained after her laugher pittered off. “Like if I wanted to, I could mimic you!” She said, and Gage could imagine the playful smile. “You’re all PSYCHOPATHS, and I love you for it!” it was a spitting image of Russell’s voice, but it teetered off into Kincaid’s voice near the end and was betrayed by Russell gasping. “Or listen, listen-” she said,

“The names Gage. Porter Gage.”

Gage paused, staring at the radio. Did he really sound like that? If Redeye’s laughter was any indication, he did. “Holy shit boss! Thats so accurate it HURTS!” Redeye and Kincaid shared a laugh, Kincaid letting out a sigh.

“So, as I was saying, Caesar gets all demeaning at me and demands I tell him all about blowing up the bunker. But I don’t. I upgrade the securitron army, and I inform Mr. House I have a delivery.” Kincaid said, her chair creaking. “So I go back to Caesar and the ignorant fuck thinks I’ve done exactly what he said- and he asks me to tell him about it.”

Kincaid got real close to the mic, her voice lowering into something dangerous that sent shivers up Gage’s spine. “Oh I told him about it alright, told him about it with my .45 caliber BFR.” she snapped her fingers, and Gage could imagine her making finger guns.

“Bang. two to the head, but that one ain’t getting up.”

“Getting up, boss?” Redeye asked, sounding profoundly confused.

“Oh thats referring to me, I had a thirty carat run of bad luck going into vegas to deliver a package to Mr. House himself.” Kincaid explained. “A dirty rotten fink named Benny Gecko wanted to take vegas for himself, and to do that he needed the computer chip I was delivering.” Kincaid explained, Redeye humming. “So he shot me twice in the head- see the scars?” she paused, both of their chair’s creaking.

“Holy shit” Redeye muttered, Kincaid laughing.

“And put me in the ground. Fucker didn’t make sure I was dead though- I ended up crawling out of my grave and chasing him all the way to vegas.” Kincaid said, sounding satisfied. “Who the fuck messes up so bad that they connect two shots straight to the egg, and don’t manage to scramble it?” Kincaid asked, Redeye laughing his ass off.

“So yeah, I made my way to vegas and it was one wild ride.” Kincaid said, Redeye chuckling.

“So tell me about vegas, whats sin city like these days?” Redeye asked, Gage could almost imagine the DJ leaning forward and resting his chin on his hand. Kincaid would probably kick back and throw her boots up on the booth table. Gage snorted slightly at the image, those two would be insufferable if Redeye decided he wanted to go out and do live reporting.

“Oh man Vegas? There ain’t nothing like it. The lights, the sounds, the people! Oh how lovely she is, like a glittering jewel in the mojave, a diamond in the rough if you will.” Kincaid spoke softly, “I want something like that for Nuka World.”

“What do you mean boss?” Redeye asked, Gage looking at the radio.

“Well, Vegas is a hub Russell-”

“Redeye” The DJ interjected, Gage chuckled.

“Everyone comes from miles around, for the casinos, the market place, for the escorts. You wanna good time you wanna go to vegas baby.” Kincaid said, not losing a beat. “But what’s on the east coast? DC? Metaton? The fuck you gonna do in metaton?” Kincaid asked, Gage raising a brow. “Now everyone knows Gage is the man with the plan, he brought everyone together, he organized shit, and he helped colter get all the parks- or he tried, but Colter was a blowhard.”

Gage set down his pen, listening intently. “But whats next? What do we do AFTER that?” Kincaid posed the question, but it was obvious she had the answer.

“We raid?” Redeye asked, sounding confused. Kincaid laughed, that oh so soft laugh sent shivers right up Gage’s spine.

“Well of course, but there is so much more money to be made then just raiding, and there is more caps in gambling then there is in scavving.” Kincaid told the DJ, and Gage tilted his head. “In vegas alone, going through the casinos, you wanna know how much I made?”

“How much did you make?” Redeye sounded like he was on the edge of his seat.

“I made over five hundred thousand caps.” Gage froze. That was a lot of money, more money then he had ever seen in his life. He heard Redeye sputter, and then count.

“Thats five zeros boss!” he said, Kincaid humming.

“You bet it is. And then I lost it all in a couple of games of caravan.” Gage shook his head, with that many caps he could live comfortably and never have to run a raid again. He could settle down and start his own god damn settlement for that many caps. And she lost it all in a card game, his stomach did flips at the thought of it.

Best not think about it.

“Now, I’m sure you all are horrified- but this has a point!” Kincaid said, sounding conspiritorital. “I walked away with that much money, but you know how much they walked away with off of me? Off of all the dumb sluts playing slots and black jack and roulette?” Kincaid asked, Gage could imagine the sly smile. He could just imagine her lips pulled back over those sharp teeth. “Imagine it, Operators handling cards, caps, and slots, people giving them their money hand over fist.” Kincaid said, Gage leaning back. “Pack keeping the peace, throwing any trouble makers into the gauntlet to duke it out and pay their debt to the house.” Kincaid laughed softly, like she’d just told a joke.

“What about Nisha and her crew?” Redeye asked, Kincaid pausing.

“Probably the gauntlet, only those sick sonsa fucks could be twisted enough to keep it entertaining.” Kincaid said, and it was like Gage could hear the lack of interest in her voice.

“God damn.” Redeye said, Gage picking back up his pen. “That sounds fucking fantastic boss, but do you really know what you’re doing?” he asked, Kincaid laughing.

“I got Yes-Man Vegas didn’t I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one came together so easily, hot damn I wish the rest did the same. 
> 
> So I'm working on full rewrites for the previous chapters- working on polish, and trimming the fat, ya'll know- the works. One of my friends has offered to help me with this and she's done fantastic so far. Chapter 1 has been edited accordingly and OOOF does it read so much better. I'm hoping to get editing a chapter done once a week and the new chapters out at the same rate. wish me luck dudes, wish me fuckin' luck.


	14. Boogie

By the end of two weeks, Porter Gage was ready to start a riot.

When his bedrest started, it was charming, almost, how the overboss doted on him. She made sure he had food and water and that he wanted for nothing. But Porter Gage was a raider, and raiders get bored with domesticity. 

First, he made it through all of the reports, and then he started working on the back log he had missed due to Colter’s tantrums and irritability. Kincaid received an angry missive from Mags when Gage submitted the final numbers. Wasn’t his fault she’d skimmed so much under Colter’s nose. Gage was just doing part of his job. He did take some satisfaction at the meeting for it, though.

Mags and William balked when Gage pushed forward his ledgers, and Kincaid read over his neat handwriting and meticulous notes. The trail was right there in their ledgers, all he had to do was run the numbers. He did the same with the Pack and Disciples ledgers, though he found far less missing. 

That took him a few days. Then he had nothing to do. Kincaid suggested hobbies, but all of his hobbies included robbing people of their caps, shooting things, and being mobile. As it stood, he was almost entirely bedridden. 

He also did not appreciate the daily visits from Mackenzie. Her poking and prodding drove him completely insane, and it didn’t matter if he snapped at her and grumbled. She just pressed on with the Overboss’s blessing. She changed him out the heavy duty brace a week in, and it felt like sweet freedom to Gage, who was instantly up and about and trying to go out and work on Galactic Adventure, go and patrol Nuka-Town. Anything but sit in the grille. 

Kincaid didn’t let him, but god did he try. 

He went so stir crazy that Kincaid walked in on him having a deep discussion with Ed-e, who was beeping right along with him. He had been trying to explain just exactly drew him to being a raider to the bot, going off on tangents about security and strategy that his previous bosses had overlooked. When she pushed through the door Gage paused mid rant. Ed-e beeped happily.

He was embarrassed about that. 

While he was down for the count, Kincaid was organizing the raiders into a force to be reckoned with. She focused on the clean up of Nuka-Town, getting the entire city rubble free. While her raiders worked on that, she skulked around Galactic Adventure on her own, picking up cores she’d need to reset the AI. 

Overall, it was a productive, albeit maddening two weeks. 

When the word finally went out for the final assault, Gage was afraid he was going to be left behind. He’d worked hard to help take Galactic Adventure, damn it! He wanted to be there when the god-damn AI was shut down. He wanted to be in the thick of it, with the bots and the raiders and the fighting and the violence. He ached for it, yearned for it, he’d kill for it. He was buzzing with energy while Kincaid prepared her weaponry. 

“Boss, come on.”

“Not unless Mackenzie gives you the all-clear. I’m not gonna get you shot just because you’ve got an itch to be shot at.” Kincaid said sternly as she checked the alignment of her scope. She frowned and adjusted it slightly to the side, looking down it. Gage let out a groan, shaking his head and moving beside her. 

“It’s off by a millimeter.” he told her, pointing at the scope. She adjusted and checked again, smiling as she aimed down the barrel. She gave him a thumbs up and he made a disgruntled noise, moving her tools out of the seat beside her and flopping down onto the cushions. 

“Look, please. I’ve been stuck up here for two god damned weeks,” Gage practically begged, looking over as she worked over the stock of her gun. “Two weeks, boss. I have NEVER sat on my ass for that long in my god damned life.” 

“Didn’t the weight set help?” Kincaid asked, setting aside her monster of a rifle and picking up the gauss rifle. Gage groaned again and dropped his head into his hands. No. it didn't help. All it did was let Gage start building up muscle again. While helpful, this did shit all for his boredom. 

“Boss, I was just bored and working out. It’s not entertaining. It’s maddening. You are driving me nuts. I’m a raider. Let me raid!” Gage pleaded. He looked at her and watched how she worked over her guns. “I want to pillage, and destroy, and throw people to the ground, and beat the shit out of them!” 

“Clean your rifle, Gage.” Kincaid said, letting out a huff as she went over the magnets on her gauss rifle. Gage watched as she checked each one, weighing on the chances of whether that was a joke about jerking it, or if she was actually telling him to go maintain his guns. Based on her facial expression, it was literal. 

“Done it. Done it ten times over. Cleaned the pistol, too! Cleaned my pistol!” he chuckled slightly at his own joke and Kincaid let out a snort. Gage enjoyed the little smile that pulled at her lips and took satisfaction in it.

Even if he liked her smile, though, he was still so bored, he could pull out his hair. 

“Fuck, boss! I even did laundry!” Gage grumbled. Raiders didn’t clean. They didn’t do laundry. They stole whatever vic’s clothes they wanted and tossed them out when they got dirty. But no! Gage rigged up the sink and cleaned his clothes, her clothes, Russel’s clothes, hell he even cleaned all the sheets in fizztop. He huffed when Kincaid didn’t respond right away. She obviously didn’t understand the significance of Gage’s cleaning spree.

“Come on, I’ve been damn good. I ain’t complained that much-”

“Gage, you complain a lot.” 

“I ain’t said I didn’t complain. Just said I didn’t do it near so much as I wanted to. I appreciate the break, but I ain’t wanna sit on my ass all day, twiddling my thumbs like some stupid chump!” 

Gage gestured with his hands as Kincaid watched him. She looked amused. That made the one of them he s’posed. He let out a huff and Kincaid looked over at him. He leaned back and matched her stare. They kept their eyes locked until Kincaid had to look away, laughing. 

“If Mackenzie clears you, then you can come along.” Kincaid put her finger up as Gage opened his mouth. “I don’t want you pushing yourself too hard.” Kincaid told him. Gage’s sour mood lifted instantly, his eye getting bright. It was a chance at freedom for him, and he was not about to let it slip through his fingers. He got up, gathering up his kit. He’d gained some muscle in his down time and had to adjust his armor. Not being as stressed and eating often would do that to a person. He drug his armor over by Kincaid, who laughed as he gathered up his guns and started to tinker with them. 

“You haven’t been given the okay yet, Mr. Gage.” She reminded him. Gage waved her off and worked on his rifle, looking down the sights. 

“It's been two god damned weeks. If she don’t clear me, I’m gonna shoot her.”

“Porter!” Kincaid said in mock dismay. She laughed again and Gage set aside his rifle. It was clean. It was more than clean - he’d even hand machined new parts for it. It was in the best condition it had been in for a long while, and he had plenty of ammo. 

Next was his sawed off shotgun. He worked over it with a rag, making sure it wouldn’t jam or explode on him. He didn’t know it near so well as his rifle, but in the last week, he had done a ton of repairs. The two of them kept working on their guns until the elevator dinged. They both looked up as the doors slid open.

Mackenzie stepped out, carrying her dreaded little medkit.

Gage hated that medkit now. 

The doctor was far more comfortable around Kincaid now, having sussed out the boss was not the monster Colter was. Now that Mackenzie was not skittish, she had an almost reckless streak. Gage was almost insulted how casual Mackenzie was with him. Almost.

She’d seen too much to be afraid of him long before this. 

Kincaid got up, setting aside her gauss. She walked over, and her and Mackenzie talked about business. The two talked about raiders who were injured in the last week, how Mackenzie’s new clinic was working out, and things that were important to running the park smoothly. Gage was almost proud of how much initiative Kincaid was showing. It wasn’t important in the moment, though, so Gage tuned it out and worked on cleaning his gun. He was not about to give Mackenzie any reason not to clear him. 

He wanted out of this god damned mountain, and if Mackenzie didn’t clear him, he was going to go down the stairs himself. Hell, he’d seen Mason go down stairs on a piece of sheet metal. He could make it down that way. It was only a few flights of stairs. 

To be fair, though, if Gage remembered right, that ended up sending Mason to Mackenzie.

If Gage had his way, he’d never see the fucking medic ever again.

“Ok, Gage.” Gage looked up at Kincaid. She had her hand out for him. He took it and she helped pull him to his feet. He shoved his hands in his pockets and limped over to the makeshift clinic the doctor had set up in the grille. There were medical supplies strewn about a makeshift stretcher. Bridgeman sat down on a backless office chair and sat down her medical bag on a side table. 

He flopped down on the stretcher and Mackenzie started to unhook his brace, going from buckle to buckle like clockwork. They had done this many times, specially in the beginning. Gage was used to it now, and just squirmed in the seat while she poked at his leg. It was still tender and she was not a gentle person. 

After dealing with the doctor for two weeks, he decided she had terrible bedside manner. 

“I think,” Mackenzie started. Gage stared at her, holding his breath. 

“You’d benefit from another week on rest.” 

Gage deflated, unable to keep the emotions from playing across his features. He looked over at Kincaid, who winced visibly. He looked back at Bridgeman, who looked wholly unsympathetic. 

“I know you’re probably going crazy locked in here, but this, coupled with previous injuries you never let yourself recover from? Your body is shot.” Mackenzie tried to explain to him, gesturing to his torso. It was shit. It was total fucking bullshit. Gage was having none of it. He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the seat. 

“GAGE!” Mackenzie growled, grabbing at him. He pulled himself out of her grasp, throwing his legs over the other side of the stretcher. “You need to put the brace back on!” 

“Fuck you!” Gage snarled loudly, getting up. He couldn’t put his weight on it, but there was no shooting pain. Kincaid tried to block him and he pushed past her and hobbled his way out to the patio. The doors slammed behind him as hobbled up to the bar. He leaned on the counter, shoving plates off the side and causing a racket. 

He was done. He wasn’t going to put up with this anymore. The two of them were going to drive him insane and he was going to end up killing them. 

He glared out over Nuka-World, shaking violently. He was so angry, he could just imagine taking Mackenzie and throwing her right off the patio like Colter had done to so many traders before her. He had been patient, putting up with the poking and the prodding. He was done. He was a raider, and he was not about to miss the biggest thing to happen to the parks besides the actual takeover. This was everything he had been waiting for. 

He heard the broken double doors swing open and he felt Kincaid put her hand on his back all gentle and soft. If he wasn’t so angry, he’d melt under that touch, but right now?

“How are you holding up?” she asked softly. 

“If you don’t get your hand off of me, I’m going to throw you off the patio.” Gage growled lowly. Kincaid gave him a good thump on the back. 

“Its bullshit,” he murmured after a moment, glancing at Kincaid. She sighed. 

His eye narrowed into a thin slit. He didn’t want her pity, he wanted her to take action. “I don’t see why I can’t fucking go. I’ve worked with worse. Hell! Colter did worse to me and I still had to get up and do my fucking job.” 

“Gage, that’s why you’re in this mess.” Kincaid said gently. He slapped a mug off the counter in retaliation. She didn’t react, but it made him feel a little better. He let out a heavy huff and Kincaid gave him another thump on the back. 

“Boss, you don’t get it.” Gage started, running his hand down his face. “I’ve worked for this for years. I put up with Colter, the old alphas, the twins. Hell, I put up with Nisha-” 

He spat out her name. He knew Kincaid shared his disdain for the disciple. Knew it would pull sympathy. “- and you and that little shit in there are gonna tell me I can’t see the first park get taken?” 

Gage turned to Kincaid. He let out a defeated sigh, his eyebrows knitting together. “I’ve worked on this gig for years, boss. It took me almost two years to get the treaties together. To get everything set and ready to go. God, the siege alone was almost a month of starving the traders out.” 

Gage leaned on the bar, resting his head on his arms. 

“I’ve waited for so god-damned long.”

Kincaid was silent, her hand hovering over his back. He could tell she wanted to try and comfort him. He could imagine it, too. ‘Oh, there will be other parks. It’s the first of many. He didn’t have to worry about it.’ It would fall on deaf ears. They both knew that. 

“I’ll... I’ll see what I can do.” Kincaid told him. Gage looked over as she turned and went back into the grille. Honestly, he hadn’t expected a tantrum to work. He huffed, turning back to the windows. 

While Kincaid was inside talking to mackenzie, Gage entertained himself by shoving things off of the bar. Plates, mugs, tools - none of it was free from his destructive boredom. He was spinning forks on the countertop when Kincaid came back in, carrying his brace. 

“You want the good news or the bad news?” she asked. Gage looked up and raised an eyebrow. She bit her lip and sighed, not able to look at his face. “You still have to wear the brace.” 

Of course. He’d never be free of the fucking thing.

“BUT!” he perked up, bracing himself on the bar. “You can come! As long as you don’t push yourself and keep out of the thick of the battle.” Kincaid said as she held out the brace. 

Gage’s eye widened and a goofy, lopsided smile stretched across his face. He snatched the brace away from her and leaned against the bar. He braced himself against the countertop and began working on each buckle. He was far faster than Mackenzie was, and he was back in it within a couple of minutes. He could see that Kincaid wanted to help, but wisely kept her distance. 

“You still can’t push yourself, Gage. I can’t risk losing you. You’re too important.” Kincaid reminded him. He brushed her off and hobbled past her.

“Gage, I’m serious!” Kincaid called after, following him to the weapons bench. 

“Boss, you could be the king of fucking England and I wouldn’t give a shit right now.” Gage told her excitedly, looking over. “We’re about to take the first park. The first park. We mean fucking business, boss.” 

Gage slipped on his roll cage before hooking on his holsters and a bullet bandolier. He slid the shotgun into his thigh holster and slid his pistol into the waistband of his pants. He picked up his rifle and before Kincaid could even get her bag, he was ready to go. 

“Come on, Boss! we’re wasting daylight!” he said impatiently.

“The sun ain’t even rose yet. Jesus!” Kincaid said with a laugh and a shake of her head as she shoved all of her weaponry into its matching holsters. Knives, pistols, revolvers, the shotgun she carried. She had it all. Gage had become very acquainted with it during his time bedridden. 

He tapped his foot and looked around for Mackenzie. The medic had made herself scarce. Good. He was still tempted to toss her off of fizztop. He turned back to Kincaid, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops. 

Kincaid tossed him a pack of cigs and he snatched it out of the air before sliding it into his pocket. They both made their way towards the double doors. 

“We are in fucking business.” Gage grinned, looking over at Kincaid as she turned on the elevator. She laughed and nodded. He hit the button and ed-e whirled to life, seemingly aroused by the commotion. It floated over with a beep. 

“Get on the fucking lift, you floating scrap heap. We’re going to go take Galactic Adventure!” Gage snarled gleefully at the eyebot as it leisurely floated over. Kincaid smacked his arm, and Gage rolled his eye.

Ed-e played a recording of an old man saying “puta”, which Gage was fully aware was a curse in Spanish. He smacked the bot and it beeped indignantly. 

“Come on, you two. Get settled so you both don’t fall off the lift!” Kincaid ordered. Gage settled in, leaning against the railing as ed-e beeped at the boss. 

“I don’t care if he started it. You harass him plenty!” Kincaid asserted, waving off ed-e’s complaints. “You know, if it wasn’t tit for tat, I wouldn’t let it happen.” 

Kincaid hit the button and they started to descend. Gage fidgeted in place, tapping on his hip as he bounced back and forth. Kincaid watched him, her eyebrow raised as her eyes tracked him from side to side.

“What’s the plan, boss?” He asked Kincaid as he glanced at her. She shifted her weight, leaning back against the railing of the lift. 

“Get in. Don’t die. Shut down Star Control.” 

“That is not a plan. That is a list.” Gage countered. Kincaid gave him a big smile and Gage frowned. “Boss?”

Kincaid laughed and it sent shivers up his spine. Still didn’t tell him shit about how they were going to do this, though. Were they going to do a full frontal assault? Come up from the tunnels and swarm? Who was the fodder and what weapons did they have? Was Mags in on this, or was it Kincaid and Gage alone? Gage had many questions, but he’d wait until he got a better feel of the situation to ask them. 

The lift settled and they both stepped off at the same time. Kincaid took position on his blind side, making sure he was covered. He pulled out his cigs, lighting one up as they made their way through the Fizztop courtyard. 

During his time on rest, she had gotten most of the park cleaned up. Merchants were running stalls all along the main roads, some not even collared. He spotted operators running game booths, cheating tourists out of every damn cap they had. He was impressed as hell.

The crowd parted for the Overboss, letting Kincaid stride through. Gage kept close, fixing anyone who looked at him sideways with a glare. Raiders didn’t wear braces, they were an admission of weakness. He’d have to fight thrice as hard as any other raider on this raid to prove himself. 

Kincaid pushed open the door to Cappy’s cafe and Gage was surprised at how clean the grungy little raider bar looked. 

“Alright, fuckers. Let’s get ready to go.” Kincaid snarled, walking up to a massive table that had been moved to the center of the cafe. 

“You’ve been busy.” Gage muttered as they walked up to the table. Kincaid nodded and shoved aside a clueless Pack Animal on her way up to the table. She and Gage leaned on the edge at the same time. 

The operator rat came out of the back, carrying a massive piece of butcher paper. Rat Fucker unfurled a hand drawn map on the table and dumped a bunch of figurines off to the side. It was a shame. Gage was hoping the asshole had died. No such luck though. 

“So, Boss.” Rat Fucker started as he looked up to Kincaid. “Best bet is gonna be the tunnels. We figured the bots can’t go in and we was right.” Rat Fucker said, not acknowledging Gage at all. Operator and Pack runts got up real close to the table as Rat Fucker began motioning at the lines drawn on the map. “We go through these, and we can get up real close without that shitty AI figurin’ it out.” 

Gage looked over the map, taking mental notes. They had about two hundred raiders total, if he had to make a guess based on how Rat Fucker was talking. The asshole was motioning to different routes, back ups upon back ups. They had some Pack in it for the violence, quite a few drifters in it for the Boss’ favor, and some Operators who were in it for the glory.

The tech probably didn’t hurt either. 

“Good.” Kincaid said, leaning on the table. She took some notes on her pipboy as Daniels started to assemble some rough figurines. He started bunching them up, setting down a crown to represent Kincaid. 

“You used to work for Robco, so we send you in to throw off the AI,” Rat Fucker explained. “I don’t think it can hurt an employee - at least, that’s what I gathered from the manuals we found.”

Rat Fucker moved another piece to the left. “I’ll lead the shock troops around the other side of the building and start fucking with those breakers my men got open. That’ll give you enough time to get to the computer proper without the turrets turning you into cheese.” 

Hah. The Rat made a cheese joke. Gage looked over the figurines and squinted. “How many men are we working with exactly? And what troops are going to be fodder for when the bots come out of their little holes and try and swarm Star Command?” 

The room went silent, and Gage looked up as the Rat Fucker tilted his head.

“Excuse me?” the Operator asked snidely. “Last I checked, one eyed, one legged fuck wits who get captured by Gunners don’t go on no raids. Much less plan them. Lost that when you got captured by Gunners, Porter-Potty.” 

If Kincaid had not grabbed the back of his shirt, Gage would have launched himself across the table. As it stood? He made it about half way across and got a good fistfull of the asshole’s hair. He slammed the man’s face into the table twice before Kincaid got a vice like grip on his wrist. She twisted and Gage snarled, refusing to let go of Rat Fucker’s hair until he felt his wrist threaten to snap. Pain lanced up his arm and Gage let go, but grabbed for literally anything else. He snatched up some of the figurines and threw them at the incapacitated Operator and he felt Kincaid growl deep in her chest. She hauled him back and Rat Fucker backed up, looking dazed and sporting a very broken nose. 

“Very mature, Gage.” Kincaid hissed angrily. Gage ignored her, seeing nothing but red.

“Say that AGAIN Rat Fuck! I Fuckin’ dare you!” Gage roared, even as Kincaid got an arm around his chest and started pulling him backwards. He struggled against her grip as he clutched the table as tight as he could. The screeching was unbearable as the table pulled across cracked tiles, inch by inch as Kincaid pulled Gage away. Pack Animals came to her aid and he tried to flinch away as multiple hands grasped his arms. 

Sure didn’t stop him, though.

“Oh, Jesus.” Rat Fucker slurred, touching his face. 

“I’ll fight every single one of you fucks! I got every god-damned right to go on this raid! I’ll fuckin’ show you what a one legged, one eyed asshole can do!” Gage roared as he squirmed in Kincaid’s arms and elbowed a raider in the face. It was one less hand gripping the table, but it let him start prying the other raiders off of him. He kicked out with his good leg and caught a Pack Animal in the ribs. The Pack member backed up, clutching his bloodied side. 

Rebar boot caps, motherfucker. 

“I’ll fuckin’ kill you Asshole! Mark my god damn words!” Gage promised Rat Fucker as he hauled the table closer. He was hoping that Kincaid would be the one to budge, but no dice. 

Kincaid finally broke his grip on the table and hauled him out of reach. He flailed, trying to find something else to grab onto. He was not about to let Kincaid drag him out because some Operator rat decided to get mouthy. That was not the deal. Mackenzie gave him the go ahead, he was going to go on this raid. He was not about to be banished back to Fizztop like a beaten dog with it’s tail between its legs. He’d done enough of that in his life. He wasn’t about to start taking shit now. He wasn’t going back unless he had a trophy straight from Star Control, ripped right off the AI by his own two hands. 

“Gage, calm down.” Kincaid hissed in his ear as he struggled in her arms. He paused and she relaxed her grip. When he didn’t break free, she let his feet touch the ground. He ground his teeth and forced himself to calm down. He could feel his heart pounding in his ears, and all he wanted to do was shove Rat Fucker into the nearest hole. Break a bottle over his head, slice up his face, anything but let the insult slide. It would have been easier to control his temper with a cig, but his had fallen out of his mouth in the scuffle, and it lay smouldering in the middle of the hand drawn map. 

“Daniels! That was out of fuckin’ line!” Kincaid barked from Gage’s blind side. He winced, not expecting it to be so loud. She let him go and he rolled his shoulders as he turned to Kincaid. She looked ticked off, but not with him. That was a small comfort at least. She walked right up to the table and shoved it back into place, and right into Daniel’s gut. He let out a pathetic noise and she snarled, slamming her fists down. 

“If we don’t work together, ain’t no-one going on this raid but me. I’ll do it myself.” Kincaid spat and slammed her fists on the table. Gage didn’t doubt that- it still stung, though. Gage let out a heavy huff as he grabbed for his cig and stuck it back in his mouth. Kincaid watched him, making sure he wasn’t about to pull any stunts. 

When she determined he wasn’t going to launch himself again, she turned back to the Operators. Daniels Mc Rat Fuck was nursing his nose, surrounded by a couple of Operators who were shooting Gage dirty looks. 

“You fucking broke my nose!” Daniels cried, looking at the blood that stained the front of his suit. “And you stained my good suit you ignorant slut!” He looked up at Gage and bared his teeth, hand moving towards his gun. Gage was faster however. He had his pistol drawn before Daniel’s could get his out of his holster. Kincaid moved between them, grabbing Gage’s wrist again. 

“Daniels! Gage! Back off!” she demanded, squaring her shoulders. “You were outta line, Daniels, and you know it! You’re lucky I don’t boot your ass right to Mags!” 

Kincaid turned to Gage and narrowed her eyes. Gage felt a pit form in his stomach. She got in his space and he flinched away from her on instinct. 

“And you! Get your shit together!” she demanded, letting go of his wrist. He holstered his gun and looked away from her, fixing a glare at the far wall as she spoke. 

“I didn’t just spend the fucking caps putting you back together just for you to start picking school yard fights over name calling!” She snapped. “You’re my second, Porter! Act like it, or go back to Fizztop!” 

Gage didn’t care what Kincaid thought. The fucker got what was coming to him. He should have known better then to fuck with a raider who had been cooped up in a single space for two weeks. it was like dumping the contents of a molotov cocktail out and being surprised when it caught everything on fire. 

Gage puffed on the last of his cig as Kincaid swiped all the figurines off the board. When she was sure she had everyone’s attention, she paused. She put a cig to her mouth, eyes half closed as she lit it. She took a long drag, letting the smoke flow from her mouth. She gazed at each raider near the table in turn, fixing Gage with a grave stare. 

“We’re going in, we’re killing this thing, and we’re taking the park. Enough said. Whos in?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! I got the place and should get the keys on Wednesday! however, that means that this week is probably going to be spent moving and I might miss a chapter, so like- fair warning ya'll.


	15. Feel Invincible

It was waiting for them. 

The fucking AI was waiting for them. It knew that they were coming and it had to have known that they were going to shut it down. The thing was ready for them, too. It had plans and ideas, and Gage could see it as laser fire whipped past him and the air around him got hot. The bots in galactic adventure had a single-minded purpose, a single directive now that united them. A purpose, if you will. 

Don’t let the raiders get in.

It was a hard fight from the start, and it wasn’t like the raiders knew they were outgunned. The moment they entered the park, they were ambushed by piece-meal repaired protectrons that had been hastily reassembled. They were frankenstiened out of scorched and dented pieces, held together by nothing but the sheer will to live. 

The raiders’ progress came grinding to a halt before they even began. The morale dropped faster than a chunk of iron in a pond. Those who didn’t take cover were killed, their armor doing little against the onslaught of laser fire and the blunt force of protectron limbs. 

Gage was quick to duck behind cover and he took a steadying breath. He was sure this was the exact thing Kincaid and the stupid doctor Mackenzie didn’t want him in the middle of.

He really was never too good at taking orders, anyways. 

He peppered the protectrons with a spray of bullets and then burst from cover. He sprinted while dodging and weaving around both operator fire and lasers. He hopped a downed trash can and pressed his back to a decorative stone wall in a alleyway. He worked on reloading his rifle, swearing under his breath. Where was Kincaid? He’d lost track of her once the bullets and lasers went flying. He peered around the corner and scanned the raider troops, going over the fallen and the dying. She was not among them. That was a small comfort, at least. 

Heavy footfalls above him snared his attention, and his gaze drifted upwards. 

She’d scaled the kiosks. Of course, she would scale the fuckin’ kiosks. She was naturally theatrical, and the vantage point would make her gauss rifle more effective. She had her massive Gauss rifle in hand, lining up her shot. He watched her, and he could just imagine her mouthing “bang.” as she pulled the trigger. When the puck was let loose, Gage felt the static dance across his skin. He flinched away as protectrons’ armored hull went flying past his cover, the metal completely blasted apart by the heavy shots. 

Kincaid let loose another few shots before the bots wised up and started shooting at her instead of the significantly less effective Operators. They ignored Gage, too. He just wasn’t a threat. His automatic rifle’s small caliber ammunition was doing next to nothing to their hulls, and Kincaid was actually doing damage with those massive pucks. 

And naturally, when Gage thought shit couldn’t get any worse, the tell-tale whir of eye-bots descending threateningly from the sky could be heard. Lasers were being fired into the crowd of raiders below, and the static-y hail of whatever-the-fuck audio program loaded onto the little bastards’ systems could be heard between the shots. The voice was irritatingly calm, and Gage let out an irritated growl. Stupid fuckin’ AI. She demanded the raiders surrendered or face death in that unnatural, god-forsaken murmur. 

God, Gage fuckin’ hated robots. 

Gage sprinted from cover and hopped one of the wooden kiosk counters. Gage figured that with a roof over his head, he was less likely to get his ass fried. At least, that was his logic, anyway. He sucked in a deep breath to steady himself and pressed his back right against the rotting wood. This was really not good, not in the slightest. There was no way to skew it to be good. They’d lost at least a quarter of their forces... maybe more. Twice that many were injured, and were more than likely unable to continue the assault. Gage ran the numbers in his head as he dug around in his rucksack for a pulse grenade. He took satisfaction in it for a moment as he realized that it was likely Rat Fucker Daniels might be among the dead. Gage chuckled to himself as he pulled out one of his grenades. He hadn’t wanted to use them so soon, but it was the only option.

Well, other than letting Kincaid do all the work. 

When Ed-E buzzed into the kiosk, Gage almost shot it. If it hadn’t been for all the old scrap metal bolted to its chassis, Gage would have downed it on the spot. It wasn’t painted an obnoxious Nuka Cola red, but who knew what other bots the AI had access to under the star command building. It didn’t deter the eye-bot, though, and it just kept beeping at him until he gave it a second glance. Fine. Gage looked over and fixed the stupid little insistent eye-bot with an almost dramatically icy glare. 

“The fuck you want?” he growled. The eye-bot beeped something in response. It got frustrated that he couldn’t seem to make out what it was trying to say and started to sway back and forth and repeating the series of beeps. That didn’t help. Gage told it so, but it didn’t stop swaying. 

“Look, I ain’t the boss. I just don’t understand bot,” Gage tried to explain as his fist closed over a pulse grenade. “You’re gonna blow my cover if you don’t fuckin’ stop.” 

It continued to sway and beep, which made Gage even more frustrated. He clutched the pulse grenade in his hand tightly. “I will shoot you if you don’t fuckin stop,” he repeated. Once again, the eye-bot didn’t stop. Gage snarls in annoyance and rolls his eye. He was gettin’ real sick of this bot’s shit. Ed-E’s gotta know he doesn’t understand ‘beep boop bop, boop boop bop, boop boop bop’ at this point, but no. No, it’s still gotta fuckin’ beep at him. Fucker. 

Gage pulled the pin on the grenade and lobbed it over the kiosk counter before ducking under it. Ed-E’s beeping switched from almost rhythmic to frantic, and it stopped swaying almost immediately after the grenade left his hand. It cut off its jets almost completely and dropped down next to him, catching itself just in time before it hit the ground. As it hovered, it began the same pattern of beeps and started swaying back and forth once more.

“Say it plain, or let me fight!” Gage snarled at the frantic bot. Ed-E let out a horrendous screech without warning that made Gage cover his ears. 

“Tell him to get his ass out of there!” Kincaid’s annoyed voice crackled over Ed-E’s speakers. “It’s a lost cause! The Operators are going to retreat. He and I can take this stupid thing down on our own! I Don’t care if you have to grab him get him out of there-” 

Gage pulled a hand over his face as the clip cut back to grating static. He really fuckin’ hated robots. Especially this stupid fucking robot, even though it was on his side. If he could really call it being on his side.

“You couldn’t start with that?” Gage asked, exasperated. 

Ed-E beeped indignantly as Gage pulled himself up from the ground using the counter. He glanced at the scene before him with an annoyed scowl.

Kincaid had been right. The Operators were fleeing, pursued by bots that hadn’t gotten caught in Gage’s grenade. As the commotion got farther and farther away, it left the plaza they had been trapped in eerily quiet.

Gage slunk away from the kiosk, but stayed alert, and kept his rifle ready. He wasn’t sure where Kincaid was, but if he could find her, they could make it to the tunnels and go straight to the AI itself. It would be easy enough, with the two of them. They had always had an easier time moving around Nuka Galaxy as a pair without the stupidly loud and gaudy operators.

And it was true. At least, when they could access the service tunnels. 

When he found one of the tunnels they had used previously, he found it boarded over with scrap metal, blocked completely with such precision and neatness, that could only be achieved by the hands of a machine. There wasn’t even any space to peek through the barrier, no holes to try and shove C4 into so that he could blow off the barricade. Halfway desperate, Gage tried to pull at the scrap that the AI had blocked it with, but it was no use. It was thoroughly fortified, as the scrap, he found, was completely welded to the metal door frame. He gave it one more solid, useless pull before stumbling backward. When he steadied himself, he looked at the door incredulously, then in growing annoyance. 

It didn’t even budge at all. 

The way was shut, and it was likely that every single other tunnel had been closed off, too. Gage’s leg twinged when he tried to put weight on it as he took a step back. He ran his hand down his face with a sigh as Ed-E hovered behind him. It beeped at him and he looked over at it. 

“What?” He asked with a frown. Ed-E floated there for a moment silently, save for the whir of its jets, then turned away with a beep and began making its way down an empty side street. Gage jogged after it and let out an annoyed huff. He knew Kincaid could call the bot back by her Pip-boy, so maybe she had recalled it. And if the bot knew were Kincaid had gone, he might as well follow. He kept pace despite the dull ache that was starting to radiate up his leg and settle deep in his hip. 

Ed-E was beeping along its merry way and seeming to take random turns that confused and confounded Gage as he followed. They wove between attractions, seemingly stopped at random. At some point, Gage even had to remind Ed-E that he couldn’t fly when the bot led him into a wall and just started to ascend. 

Gage sat with his back against the wall and rubbed his face. He was exhausted, he was lost, he was hurting, and he was ready to just lay down and take whatever this hellish park threw at him. Ed-E beeped at him and he looked up at the bot, who was acting distressed. It swayed to and fro, quicker than before, and even went so far as to grab at him with its dinky little claw. Gage tried to bat it away and let out a disgruntled huff when it just kept floating back to grab at him. 

“I’m still hurting, you little sonofabitch,” Gage grumbled as Ed-E got more frantic. “I need to rest, let me catch my brea-” 

That’s when he heard it - the slow, rhythmic shuffle of protectrons and the hoof-like clatter of assaultrons. The noise was getting louder. Getting closer... Gage pushed himself to his feet and looked around the little dead-end they were in. The only way out was the way he came in, and the footsteps were… 

His eye widened as panic welled up in his gut. He was trapped. 

Ed-E suddenly grabbed onto his armor and Gage stared at it quizzically. At least, quizzically, until it started hauling him into the air. 

“Woah! Nonononononono!” Gage gasped as his feet left the ground. He reached for Ed-E’s chassis in fear and clutched it with an iron grip. 

“What the fuck! WHAT the fuCK!” he shouted hoarsely as Ed-E’s jets kicked into overdrive. 

Gage got a grip on the metal and held on for dear life as they rose up higher and higher from the ground. He could see over the kiosks now, and he could see the robotic search party that had been heading his way - at least until Ed-E hauled him on top of the wall. Ed-E set him down gently and Gage felt like he was going to vomit. The bot lowered itself onto the stone and let out a very tired sounding beep. 

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! Never do that again!” Gage wheezed, quivering as he steadied himself on the solid rock. Ed-E beeped in agreement and Gage swallowed hard. He kept as quiet and still as possible as the assaultrons found the little dead end he had been resting in. for a moment he didn’t breathe, he didn’t even blink. The idea of the bots finding him shot icy tendrils of fear down his spine. He was in no condition to take on assaultrons, much less assaultrons backed by a militia of protectrons. 

The bots scanned the alley a few minutes before pattering off on their merry way. The clatter of their footsteps could be heard echoing through the streets for a minute more before silence washed over once again. Gage let out a heavy sigh of relief and sunk down to the ground. He took a few moments to steady himself before glancing up at Ed-E. 

“Where’s Caid?” he asked. Ed-E’s jets powered back on and it beeped softly at him. It ascended high into the air once again, and Gage frowned as it started to sway from side to side. The same sort of swaying and pattern of beeps that it’d been doing back when he threw the grenade… 

Gage let out a heavy sigh and looked over at Ed-E, who beeped all quiet like. It moved over the wall and Gage peered over the side. It was over near the exit of the Nuka Galaxy ride, and the entrance to that led almost exactly to the AI. Ed-E beeped again and Gage nodded. He tried to get a feel for how far the drop was. Ed-E wasn’t having this slow assessment for the safest route, however, and grabbed him by the back of his armor. Gage swallowed hard and got a grip on Ed-E once more before the bot slowly lowered him to the ground. 

They landed softly and the silence was overwhelming. Gage crept to the great sliding doors of the ride and pushed them open. He winced at the screech as the doors slid along their tracks, which were rusted with severe disuse. The inside was dark, like a depthless void waiting to swallow gage whole. 

He stepped inside anyway. It took a few minutes for his eye to adjust to the deep shadows. He felt around and touched one of those barrier things made of velvet rope. He kept his hand on it and used it to trek deeper and deeper into the ride. He traversed almost blindly until he could see in the low light of the star-like LED lights. 

The ride was still. Little cars hung halfway off the tracks. They were little rockets, tipped on their sides, knocked on their noses, or rolled upside down. Gage followed the carpeted path and kept a sharp eye out. There were seats and a few booths, some controls for the ride itself, and a little employee only entrance. The door was locked, though, and Gage was no good with picking locks. 

Not that it mattered too much. He didn’t have any bobby pins on him, anyways. 

Ed-E followed beside him. The hum of its jets were comforting in the deep darkness. He wandered around the little area, looking for any way to make his way to the beginning of the ride without having to scale the tracks themselves. 

No such luck. 

Gage sat on the edge of the platform and smoked, staring off into the darkness. He let his mind wander, if only for a few minutes. He thought of Kincaid, and of the parks, and how hopeless taking galactic adventure now seemed, compared to the hum of excitement just this morning. He sucked in a puff of smoke, letting it flow from his lungs slowly. Ed-E beeped at him and moved to hover in his field of vision. 

“She in here?” he asked the bot, who beeped in response. He couldn’t tell if it was a confirmation, but the bot started going down the tracks like it had a purpose. Gage watched and let out a huff. Walking along the tracks it was, then.

He snuffed his cig out on the tile beside him and pushed himself up into a standing position. He wasn’t sure what made him pause, what drew his eye up to the mannequin across the tracks- but something did. He gazed up at the doll of Nuka Girl, in her skin-tight leather get up with the thigh high black boots. It was right up Kincaid’s alley, and he had heard her talk about how much she loved the rocket costume she saw on the ads. He sat and debated with himself for a moment, thinking over if it was really worth it. It probably wasn’t heavy, but it would definitely take up space in his pack. Beyond that, too, he liked the thought of her in the suit. He thought of those boots up her long legs, the suit hugging every single one of her curves, and that nice dip right between her breasts- He scowled as he mentally berated himself. He couldn’t allow thoughts like that. She was his boss, not some prewar pinup. This was about her. What if Kincaid didn’t like it? What if she thought it was creepy?

Gage sat there, scratching his chin and thinking on it until Ed-E returned and beeped at him loudly. It startled Gage out of his reverie and he turned to the bot, which was calmly swaying to and fro like it didn't have a care in the world. Once again, it was doing the same sort of back and forth movement it’d been doing all those times before. 

“You think she’d like it?” Gage asked Ed-E, who turned to the mannequin. 

It turned back to Gage and beeped, spinning in place. It played a clip of Kincaid saying “Oh! Pretty!!” 

And so it was decided. 

Gage carefully picked his way across the tracks, watchful where he stepped as he crossed the railway. He clambered up the side and hauled himself up next to the doll and began inspecting the outfit for clasps or zippers. His leg protested with a jolt of pain, but he ignored it and pushed on anyway.

It took a long fucking time, and he was sure Ed-E was laughing at him through the entire process, but he managed to get the white leather off of the mannequin mostly unscathed. He haphazardly folded up the outfit and rolled up the thigh high boots into little bundles before stuffing them in his bag. Ed-E beeped at him in a tone that could only be described as “oooo, you like her!”. Gage squinted at the bot in annoyance. 

“You watch your damned mouth,” he growled. Ed-E beeped back at him in amusement before drifting back on course. Gage followed suit. After a few steps, Ed-E slowed down and let Gage take the lead. Ed-E followed behind Gage and started playing a clip of him saying “you think she’d like it?” over and over and over again until Gage wanted to throw the eye-bot into the dark abyss below the tracks. 

“I will end you!” Gage hissed as Ed-E let out another beep of amusement and hovered out of reach from the tracks. Gage grumbled and trekked on, keeping an eye on his footing. He had no idea how deep the ride went, but considering the size of the building and how the ride was climbing steadily upwards, he was sure it was going to be a long fall. Ed-E was at least helpful as far as darkness went, as it shined a light on the tracks as Gage continued the ascent. 

The time it was taking was unbearable, and Gage had to stop at what he could only hope was the halfway point. His body ached and his leg was throbbing when he finally settled down in one of the cars and let out a heavy sigh. Ed-E beeped at him and he shooed the bot away. 

“I’m tired, I’m in pain. Make her come to me.” Gage groused loudly as he stuck his legs out of the miniature rocket and stretched. He wriggled and Ed-E beeped frantically, bobbing and weaving as gage shoved an arm behind his head. He ignored the bot and picked at his teeth, staring off into the darkness. He’d continue on in a minute - there was no way he could actually relax here. But right now? He was in pain, a lot of pain. His leg spasmed and Gage bit back a gasp. He winced and rubbed his thigh. Ed-E went quiet. It watched him and he paused, starting the bot down. 

“What?” He asked it with a growl. The bot hovered closer and gage flinched back. 

“Oh god, he’s hurt.” a voice clip - it was Kincaid. Gage was sure of that, but it sounded different in a way he had a hard time placing, like something that was recorded years ago. “He’s hurt and I left him.” 

Ed-E reached out and touched his leg and Gage smacked it away. 

“Don’t touch me,” he snapped defensively. He ended up sounding a lot more petulant than commanding, though, and Ed-E only backed off slightly. 

“I don’t need your pity! I don’t need hers, either!” Gage ranted as he climbed out of the little rocket. Ed-E beeped at him worriedly and Gage waved it off as he started back down the tracks. It was starting to descend now, and it was harder for Gage to climb down.

“I’m a grown ass man. I’ve been on my own my whole life and I ain’t ever needed no one!” Gage asserted to the bot as he clearly struggled to climb down. He paused to look back at Ed-E angrily, who simply watched him in silence.

“I don’t need you. I don’t need her, either!” He said, his voice trembling. “I could leave - just leave! I’m only here because I want to be!” 

Gage pressed his forehead to his arm and screwed his eye shut. He knew full well if he left, Nisha would hunt him down. He couldn’t really leave. It was a lie. A lie he told himself in the dark of the night, in the moments where fear threatened to overtake him. It was a lie, but it was comforting. He’d always been free before Nuka World.

He gave it up, though. For the dream. 

When Gage and Colter first teamed up, they had discussed in length what the future would be like. What they aimed to do. They even had plans for when they were old men, where they would retire and live comfortably and shoot any assholes who got close to their home. Gage had considered Colter a friend. God, he had even considered trying something more- at least before the power went to Colter’s big, fat, stupid head. 

That’s all Gage wanted. He wanted to live comfortably. With someone else calling the shots and splitting the rewards. He wanted caps, and security, and a ton of bodies between him and anyone who wanted to get at him. Nuka World was his best bet for that. It was the only way he was ever going to get that in the wasteland. It was the same reason he became a raider. The same damn reason he left his parents’ homestead. He didn’t want to be on the wrong end of the gun, or the knife - or any weapon, if he was being honest. He wanted to be in charge of his own life for once, instead of having to sacrifice everything for other people. 

Gage had many thoughts about his life as he worked on shimmying down the ride. He clung to each rung of the track for dear life as he slowly worked his way down the slope. Ed-E followed slowly and kept its flashlight as steady as it could to make sure he could see what he was grabbing. He had no idea how much farther down he had to go, but the pain was starting to become unbearable, and he was having to make more and more stops to catch his breath.

Maybe being part of the initial assault was a bad idea, Gage realized. He would never admit it aloud, though. 

As Gage started to lower himself for the umpteenth time, the lights in the ride suddenly turned on. Gage flinched and Ed-E beeped confusedly as all manners of purple and blue strobe lights flickered and flared to imitate blaster fire. 

And the noise? The shrieky blown speakers belting out synthetic music, laser noises, aliens screaming for their lives? It was an onslaught Gage was not prepared for in the least. He let go in a panic as he tried to cover his ears, instinctively desperate to block the horrible cacophony. 

For a moment, Gage felt his stomach hit his throat while the air rushed past him. The sensation of free fall was not really something he was very familiar with. He didn’t make it a habit - well, not until recently, anyway - to fall down holes and pits and the like. He could hear Ed-E screeching in a panicked tone, even through his hands over his ears. 

His back hit something soft and the air was knocked out of him as he squished down into something plush. He let out a wheeze and stared up at the tracks he had been scaling just moments before. He blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the light. Ed-E slowly descended and beeped worriedly. It came to hover over him as he just laid there on a massive black cushion. 

“I’m alive. I think,” Gage muttered. The bot beeped at him. “Unless you’re in hell, too...” 

Gage rolled onto his side with a groan. His head was throbbing, pulsing with the beat of the strobe lights. He was definitely going to feel that fall in the morning, but nothing seemed to be broken. He grunted and started working himself into a sitting position. It was far harder than it should have been, due to the soft nature of the cushion and the dizziness assaulting his brain. He finally shoved himself up and his body compiled and submitted a list of complaints as to why falling from over ten feet in metal armor was not a good idea. Maybe Kincaid was kind of right. Maybe that roll cage armor wasn’t as good as he’d initially thought. 

Gage started working the belts on his harness, frantically working the buckles to free himself. he pushed off the roll cage before laying back down on the soft cushion. It was too damn much. Everything was too damn much. Between the flashing lights and shrieky sounds, Gage wasn’t able to properly process anything beyond blinding pain and vicious aches. 

He could feel the migraine building behind his brows, the pain building, and building, and building, until his skull felt fit to burst. Getting to Kincaid wasn’t near so important now as not vomiting on himself, or on Ed-E. Jesus, if he vomited on the bot, he’d NEVER live that down, and Kincaid would probably make him scrub its whole shell. 

Gage rolled back on his side and covered his ears, squeezing his eye shut. 

He tried to focus on breathing, tried to focus on anything but the flashing lights and shrill sounds. He couldn’t, though, and waves upon waves of nausea and pain flooded over his being. 

He had no idea how long he lay there, he had no sense of time. All he knew was it was very sudden when his world went dark, and a gentle weight settled over the top of him. His eye snapped open and he tried to struggle as arms wrapped around him. 

“Gage, it’s okay! It’s okay. I promise.” Kincaid’s voice cut through the blaster fire and music. Gage tried to focus on it as she murmured to him and pulled him closer. He could feel her heartbeat against his cheek and feel her hands against his skin as she pulled him to his feet. He stumbled and she steadied him, leading him farther and farther away from the hellish soundscape of the ride. As the noises got farther and farther away, Gage grew more steady, though the migraine did not completely ebb. 

“Boss?” Gage croaked and then winced at how pathetic he sounded. 

“I’m sorry, Gage. I didn’t realize turning on the lights would do... that.” Kincaid said apologetically as she sat Gage down against cold concrete. He sat with her coat over his head, letting the mostly-silence wash over him. Kincaid let him stay there and said nothing. She simply held his hand and ran her thumb across his knuckles. For a moment, he was glad his face was covered. She would have seen the flush crawling up his neck and spreading across his face. 

When his stomach finally stopped doing flips in rapid succession, he pushed her coat up and took a look at her. 

He almost regretted it. 

She looked rough. Her hair was singed and she was bruised all over. She was sporting a shiner and had a wicked burn up her neck. Gage blinked and swallowed down bile before leaning his head back against the cold wall. He patted the ground beside him and she obliged, sitting down unceremoniously without further direction.

“What happened to you?” He asked quietly. She looked over and smiled slightly. 

“Got in a fis’ fight with a protectron. I won,” Kincaid said plainly. “Got into a firefight with ten eye-bots. I also won.” 

She looked ahead, eyes half closed. “Got into a wrestling match with an assaultron-” Gage swallowed hard as he noticed the severity of the burn that streaked across her neck. She looked back over at him, a wide smile on her face. 

“I won.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHAHAHAHHAHA WE GOT IT DONE!
> 
> I've got more help now, both Skell and Lilly are now helping with this fic and are going to be named co-authors as soon as I figure out how. jesus do I work better with people to bounce off of. 
> 
> anyways, I'm now happily moved into my own apartment and it is glorious. no longer does my mechanical keyboard drive everyone around me completely bonkers, and I can keep what ever damn hours I please without worrying about disturbing people.


	16. Glory

The old and worn door opened with a screech as it slid on rusted metal tracks. Why was everything in this god damn park on fucking tracks? Jesus Christ, did the designers think the future was sliding doors and chrome? They were wrong, oh so very, very wrong. Gage mused on this as he poked his head into the silent room beyond. It seemed clear enough. 

Gage moved first, taking point as they entered the darkened Museum of Scientific Exploits. If Kincaid was correct, they were directly above the server room and, more importantly, directly above the AI.

He moved past the wooden display cases, shotgun at the ready. Kincaid was not far behind, and the hum of ED-E behind her was the only thing breaking the silence. As Gage’s eye adapted to the low light LED tracks that remained in the museum, more and more details became clear. There was so much goddam prewar tech in there. None of it was even in use, all locked away safe and sound behind glass and brass as if it was made just to be looked at. It was the fucking dream for people like the Operators. Gage leaned over one of the displays to get a better look at one of the displays that caught his eye, which was a diorama of a STARCore. He huffed, skimming over the diagram and explanation on how it worked.

“Hey Boss, you might be interested in this,” he motioned Kincaid over to the display before moving on to make sure there were no death bots inside. It was still, silent. Nothing but the three of them in this little time capsule.

“That’s why it wanted the cores back,” Kincaid hummed. Gage looked over to her and cocked an eyebrow at her. When she didn’t promptly explain herself he let out a huff. “Gonna explain?” Gage asked her, walking over closer.

“The cores don’t control it. Instead, each core gives it more and more processing power. There might a few minor systems that need the extra cores, but it could have turned off the bots at any time,” Kincaid explained as she looked up at Gage.

“And we got it what? Twenty of them?” Gage asked and Kincaid nodded gravely.

“Shit,” Gage swore under his breath, moving along the displays. There had to be a way downstairs, a way down to the AI itself without taking the risk of strolling through the front door. Gage moved to the far wall and opened a door with a plaque that could no longer be read from age. Inside was a little security office.

There were those little paper tickets from the Nukacade strewn everywhere, a skeleton in a chair, and a burnt out laser pistol on the skeleton’s desk. Behind that, there was a large wall of servers and several holotapes stacked on the desk space in front of a broken monitor. Gage picked up the tapes and turned them over to catch the light better so he could read each label.

“Caid, I think we got a manual on STARfucker here,” Gage called out as he tossed her one of the holotapes. She snagged it out of the air and slipped it into her Pip-Boy in one smooth motion. She popped in an earbud and Gage ignored the quiet hum of the holotape’s audio. He started digging around in the desk while she leaned against the wall and listened to her Pip-Boy.

Gage tossed a pen over his shoulder and it bounced off ED-E who made an indignant beep. Gage turned to the bot, who buzzed at him. He looked down at the useless tat in his hand and a smile curled across his lips.

“Don’t. You. Dare,” a man’s voice, flat and emotionless, played out of ED-E’s speaker. Gage adjusted his grip on the paperweight in his hand and looked over at Kincaid. She wasn’t paying attention and was watching whatever video was on that holotape. Gage ran his tongue over his teeth and looked back to ED-E, who beeped indignantly at him again. He hurled the paperweight at the bot. ED-E shrieked and zapped it out of the air with its little laser before screeching and zooming over to Kincaid. She didn’t respond to its frantic beeps, just lifting her arm so that it had a place to snuggle into her side.

“Gage, don’t harass ED-E,” Kincaid said flatly as Gage laughed quietly. He watched the bot snuggle into her side and let his chuckles pitter off as he crouched down to dig through the lower drawers. All he found were useless papers, another pen, a small handful of Nukacade tokens, and a key that was attached to a glowing plastic Nuka-Cola bottle at the bottom of all of the crap. He slid the key into his back pocket and stood up.

He checked out the pistol on the desk, disappointed it was as burned out as it looked. The power core had overloaded in it, wrecking the gun. He turned it over in his hands, seeing if there were any parts he could scavv off it. When he determined there was none, he threw it over his shoulder so it wouldn’t be in his way and started digging around between the computers. He pulled out the computer and dug around inside of it, looking at the mess of cords and circuit boards.

“I always wonder - is it worth breaking pieces off to sell, or is that a really bad idea?” Gage asked, looking over the computer he was pulling apart. Kincaid shrugged and Gage decided he wasn’t going to fuck around with it anymore. He meandered around the office for a little while longer while Kincaid continued to listen to the holotape. She didn’t seem like she was going to be moving for a while, so he figured he might as well loot the entire museum.

“Gage,” Kincaid called out. He didn’t even really hear it right away. Gage was busy fighting one a lock on one of the cases. Sometimes the locks were rusted enough he could pop them open by hand, but this one held firm. He sat down his shotgun and pulled out the pistol from his waistband. He positioned his pistol to shoot off the lock, trying to figure out what angle the gun needed to be so that if it ricocheted off it wouldn’t hit him or Kincaid. Kincaid let out an annoyed huff, causing Gage to look over at her.

“Too much noise and the AI is going to notice us. Keep it down.” Gage frowned, but flicked the safety back on and shoved the gun back into his belt.

“Boss, I ain’t got a way to get the locks open,” Gage complained as he walked back over to Kincaid. He stuck his hands in his pockets as she looked over at him. He shrugged and Kincaid rolled her eyes with a soft smile. She popped open a compartment on her Pip-Boy and handed him several bobby pins. Gage looked at them and made a face, letting out a very defeated sounding huff. Kincaid handed him a matching little screwdriver with a red handle and smiled, patting his shoulder.

“Go nuts,” Kincaid told him before looking back at her Pip-Boy. ED-E beeped at him from its position snuggled into Kincaid’s side and Gage frowned. He was never too good at picking locks- but there was no time like the present to practice, right? Gage selected a case with what looked like some sort of gun inside and crouched down beside the little padlock. He broke off the bobby pins just the same as he’d seen Kincaid do before. He shoved it in the lock and tried to listen for the pins. One by one, they gave way, and Gage felt a little bit of pride. It was a rare day he actually managed to jimmy a lock, much less in the dark. He had started to turn the lock when Kincaid put a hand on his shoulder. He came out of his skin and the bobby pin broke off in the lock.

“Fuck!” Gage looked up at Kincaid, who had her hand over her mouth with a little smile.

“Sorry, love. I’m ready to head out. Want me to pop that open for you?” she asked and Gage frowned.

“Nah. It probably ain’t that important,” Gage told her as he stood up. He picked his shotgun up off the display case and Kincaid motioned to a door against the far wall marked with a little plaque that said “Employees Only” in little gold letters.

“That should lead to the main floor downstairs if my map is correct,” Kincaid told him as they walked over. She crouched down and got ready to pick the lock on the door. Gage produced the key from his back pocket and she just blinked at him.

“Where did you find that?” she asked, taking it and trying it in the lock. The door swung open and Gage took point. 

“Same desk as the manual,” Gage told her quietly as he scanned over the complete darkness of the stairwell. It didn’t have the same LED tracks the museum did, making it little more than a plunge into a void so far as Gage was concerned.   
  
“Why didn’t you try that in the locks on the display cases?” Kincaid asked softly, Gage pausing. He stared into the void, blinking slowly.   
  
“I didn't think of it.” he told her with a shrug. She laughed softly and he couldn’t even get mad about it. Instead, he dug around in one of the satchels he had strapped to his leg, producing a multi-tool and the pathetically small little flashlight attached to it. Kincaid looked in and blinked, looking up at Gage.

“Might not be much, but least we can see what we’re walking on,” he grumbled, shining the little disk of light on the ground. He went to step in and Kincaid put a hand on his arm, her Pip-Boy screen flashing and lighting up the whole stairwell in amber light.

“Aw fuck,” Gage grunted, covering his eye. “That’s fucking bright as shit.” he looked over at Kincaid and she shrugged.

“Sorry. This thing only has two brightness settings, screen and blinding.” Kincaid chuckled as she held her arm out. ED-E’s little flashlight kicked on with a series of beeps Gage could only describe as “I’m helpful, too!”. It was almost cute. Almost. Gage would never admit that to either Kincaid or the bot. Ever.

They all made their way down the stairwell, the metallic sound of their footfalls reverberating off the walls.

Halfway down Kincaid turned off her Pip-Boy, motioning to a door below where light filtered in through the cracks between it and the doorframe. Gage nodded and ED-E hung back as the two of them made their way down the stairs. As they got closer, voices began to filter up to them. Kincaid and Gage looked at each other and crept farther down the stairs.

“She killed the last hope for the world, you know.” The AI’s voice echoed up the stairs, getting louder as they got closer to the bottom of the stairway. “She killed Robert House. He had plans to save everyone, to save everything.”

Gage looked at Kincaid and marveled at the look of pure annoyance that crossed her features. She mouthed “of fucking course.” at him and Gage had to resist snorting. She rolled her eyes and moved ahead, Gage following close by.

“Robert House, the founder of RobCO industries, saved himself before the war so that he could rebuild and save humanity. Wouldn’t you want that?” it asked. Gage strained to hear who was answering it.

Sounded like Rat Fucker.

Gage was gonna shoot him if it was. “He had saved the Las Vegas Strip. He was expanding, working on the surrounding area for the better. From the Mojave, there would be an oasis, of technology, advancement, civilization. From the ashes of the United States would rise a utopia.” The AI sounded so sure, so proud of its creator. “And she killed him. You know what she said to him before he died?” it asked.

Gage heard Daniels clearly now. “What did she say?” he asked, his voice wavering slightly. He sounded disturbed almost.

“She said ‘I don’t like you’ and then she blew his head off with a crude shotgun.” It sounded so sad, Gage almost had pity for it. Almost. Not really.

“She exposed his fragile body to the air, to the germs and terrible pathogens of this new wasteland, and then she killed him. The only kindness she offered was the speed of which he passed. There would have been little pain, with the speed he died despite the brutality of the act,” it mused. Gage and Kincaid moved to either side of the door, both peering through the little window to the room just beyond. Daniels was standing in the middle of the server room, flanked by several Operators.

Gage looked over at Kincaid and she rolled her eyes with a shrug. “My point is though, she killed the world. And now you’re following her, doomed to do the same.” The AI’s screen got close, obscuring Daniels. “And what if I gave you and your men another option? A chance to change the fate of the Earth as you know it?”  
  
“And what would that option be?” Daniels asked. He and his men were bathed in the icy light of the computer screens. His men looked terrified, and to be fair, they had good reason to - the turrets up above them were fixed on all the Operators around the room.

“Kill Miss Kincaid,” the bot said, tilting its screen. “Kill her, and then bring her head to me.” Daniels rocked back on his heels, eyes wide. He licked his lips and his nose twitched, he looked like he was searching for something to say, anything, to keep the bot talking and keep the lasers from turning him into swiss cheese.

“You want me to kill my boss?” he asked, making it painfully obvious he was stalling. The AI laughed, and one of the turrets placed a little red dot in the center of Daniels’ head. Gage had to resist the urge to chuckle. Goodnight Rat Fucker, it was nice knowing him.

“If you don’t you’re going to die, just like every other dirty criminal that has tried invading my parks,” the AI cooed. Gage had figured they weren’t the first, but also it was kind of discouraging to know that others had tried and failed.

Kincaid seemed to have just about enough of that because she burst from the safety of the door and kicked it open with a loud bang. She strode into the room like she already owned the place. Her confidence was the damn near hottest thing Gage had ever seen, and he was stunned dumbfounded for a solid minute before his brain realized that was a bad idea and she was going to get fried via laser turret. God fucking damnit. 

He stayed behind the cover of the doorway as the screen whipped around and faced her, the AI’s perfect little projected image glitching for a moment. Gage shrank back, but was decently sure it hadn’t seen him. ED-E was still lingering farther up the stairwell, silent as death. Of course. Little thing was pretty cowardly.

“Ah. You,” it said, swinging around to get a better look at Kincaid as she stopped. Kincaid sneered, her nose wrinkling at the AI. “The ‘RobCO Employee, Four-Two-Zero-Six-Nine’ returns. Have a good time in my park?” it asked, all of the red dots shifted to Kincaid.

“If being chased by your death bots and playing on downed rides is what’s now considered a good time, sure! I had a blast,” Kincaid said, walking forward. She moved towards the center of the room, eyes locked on the AI’s screen. Rat Fucker had enough sense to back away once he wasn’t under the AI’s direct scrutiny.

“So! I killed the world, huh?” Kincaid asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes. The AI looked taken back like it hadn’t considered she could have been listening in on its little rant. “Tell me what part of Mr. Not at Home’s plan was going to save the planet? The one where he blasted himself and his chosen few to space? The one where he militarized the strip and let only tourists with money in so that he could make mad caps? Or the one where he sat dormant in the bowels of the earth, rotting away and festering like a maggot in a corpse until he could use his little securitrons to simply roll over the weak?”  
  
“You shut your ignorant mouth! Mr. House was our savior! Don’t you dare slander his good name!” The AI snarled, its screen moving all around her. “You snide little cockalorum harlot!”

“I know you are but what am I?” Kincaid sniped back without pausing for a second, hooking her thumbs in her belt with a big ol’ shit eating grin. She shifted her weight back on her heels and the AI’s screen turned red, the picture flickering for a moment. The lights inside the room turned dark red, the turrets warming up.

This was bad. This was very, very bad. Gage moved quickly and silently into the AI’s lair, keeping low and hiding behind the servers. He saw Daniels’ eyes flick over to him and widen. Perfect. Gage made a shushing motion with his hand and motioned up at the turrets with his rifle. If they coordinated an attack it’d reduce the heat on Kincaid. Daniels’ eyes flicked up, and he gave a small nod.

Thatta’ boy.

Might have been an asshole, but at least he caught on quick. Gage moved behind some of the bigger servers and dug around in his rucksack while Kincaid and the AI argued about the politics for some far off place he didn’t give one flying shit about, he knew he had another pulse grenade in there somewhere.

“Now is your chance to take back your world! Behold your ‘Overboss’ and her sins!” The AI belted out louder than before, and the sudden silence that followed the echo bouncing off the glass was heavy in the air. Gage peered over the server he was hiding behind, his eye locked on the screen he could manage to get in his line of sight.

On the screen, he saw Kincaid’s pink curls all puffed out, a half broken down shotgun in one hand as she worked a terminal with the other. She slammed her fist down on a button and, across a metal walk, a massive sarcophagus opened up. The steam obscured the occupant for a moment, but as it cleared, there was an emaciated figure. It looked more like a ghoul than a normal human, but even that didn’t seem right either. It sucked in one rough breath, and then another. Its wheezing voice crackled over the speakers in STARControl. “Why! Why are you doing this? Why are you condemning mankind to squalor! We could have ruled everything together! We could have had everything! We would have ruled over everyone!” the figure’s voice grate out, its ghastly form illuminated in hues of red from the wailing medical equipment that it was surrounded by.

The Kincaid on the screen walked forward. She wasn’t in her coat; instead, she was in shabby leathers, with no body armor save some spiked knee pads. She was thin, and from her jerky movements, she was definitely on some sort of chem, probably a cocktail of them. 

She ran a blackened hand through her hair, her voice gravelly compared to how soft it sounded now. “Because I don’t like you,” the words dripped with disgust as if she couldn’t stand the thought of leaving whatever this thing was alive. She raised the shotgun, lining up with the Ghoul-Thing’s face. She tilted her head and pulled the trigger and the splatter was damn impressive, so far as Gage was concerned. She turned on her heel, and when the camera caught her face Gage was shocked how different she looked.

She didn’t look like she ate, or slept, or did much of anything other than hard chems and drink. The video paused on that face, a face that would have looked more in place on a common raider, not the Overboss he had come to know.

“I didn’t like him,” Kincaid said, a wicked smile pulling her lips tight against her teeth. That was far more what he expected from the Overboss he knew. She was stronger, healthier. She stood straighter, spoke with more confidence. He definitely liked his Kincaid better.

The video flickered off, switching back to the AI. “You fucking mumpsimus!” it hissed and the figure on the screen crossed its arms. Kincaid rolled her eyes, moving her hand like a sock puppet and mouthing along with the AI’s rant. “You’re nothing more than unrepentant wasteland scum. He opened his home to you, he clothed you, fed you, gave you your sweet, sweet revenge! And how did you repay him? With metal pellets to his face, with pain and agony!”

The turrets started to whirl to life, the sound drawing Gage’s attention. He looked back at Daniels, who had his hand on his pistol and was ready to draw. Most of the other Operators were ready too, which was promising.

They might just live through this.

“You will die for your sins, Miss Kincaid, you and every piece of wasteland trash who follows you!” the AI proclaimed, and at that moment the room broke into chaos. Gage fired at the turrets, the Operators fired at the turrets, and Kincaid dodged to the side for cover before the remaining turrets could actually hit her.

Gage dipped back behind STARControl’s servers as the turrets turned towards him, seemingly unwilling to fire on its own systems. He moved quickly and quietly, popping up from his cover to lay down suppressing fire as Kincaid dodged the turret blasts chasing her around the room.

Gage pulled back as a laser whizzed past his nose, and he sucked in a breath. He popped out again and got a burn across his upper arm for his trouble.

“Shit!” he hissed, moving to the other side of the server. He dodged out with laser fire hot on his heels. Hopefully, Daniels and his crew had gotten to cover because otherwise, they were sitting ducks, only a laser blast away from death. Honestly, it didn’t matter to Gage. He was far more focused on keeping himself from getting fried while Kincaid worked on a way to turn off the AI to worry about any of the Operator chucklefuck.

Gage dove for cover around another set of servers. He righted himself and pressed his back to the humming machinery. He started digging around in his pack as the turrets whirled around on their little tracks. He needed to find that fucking pulse grenade he knew he still had before he ran out of places to hide.

“I see you,” the AI chimed. Gage looked up. Over the server was looming a gold and white assaultron, blade poised over Gage. His blood ran cold. He hadn’t considered it might have bots in the room, and that miscalculation was likely going to cost him his life.

“Realign the spine, Porter!” Kincaid shouted, and Gage watched as against the bot’s head clunked a pulse grenade. It dropped to the ground beside him Gage dove away from the assaultron as static rolled across his skin. The assaultron jerked and twitched, its hull protecting it from most of the EMP blast. Luckily it seemed to have fried some of its more delicate electronics though. He hoped that would buy him some time, even as it fell over the computers, chasing after him as he ran from towards another set of terminals. The assaultron crawled after him, slower than before as it’s machinery jerked every which way as it moved. Gage was running out of options, it was either fight the thing head-on or run back to the stairwell and likely doom Kincaid to death. If he stayed, it was equally likely they would both die anyway.

Gage dug around in his pocket, pulling out his pack of cigs. If he was going to fucking die, he was not going to be suffering from a nicotine headache while he did. He shoved a cig in his mouth and quickly worked on lighting it, his eye focusing on the assaultron that was pulling itself to its feet.

Well shit, twenty-five years of raiding was a damn good run. He was practically ancient by raider standards anyway.

He sucked in a drag of smoke from his cig, pulling his pistol with the other hand. He squeezed off a few shots before letting the smoke flow from his mouth. Suddenly the red lights flickered as an alarm sounded.

The bot paused, looking up as water doused everything in the room.

“Shit, I hate getting wet,” he said as he just looked up at the sprinklers. Despite the name, they let out a lot more fucking water than a light sprinkle. At least it didn’t burn, didn’t feel irradiated at all, so there had to be a store of clean water somewhere in Nuka World. If they had it out of this alive, they’d have to make a point to look for it.

“What the fuck?!” Kincaid shouted, and Gage looked over at her. She pouted in the downpour and angrily gestured at her hair to the AI as if her hair being ruined was all its fault. The water that was pouring all over the room was causing the less important systems to shut down and the turrets all started to power off and they hung limp on their tracks even as the AI shrieked louder and louder, verbally commanding everything to defend it. So much for never going deaf, Gage s’possed.

The bot that had been crawling towards him sparked and sagged, the torso limp. A glance told him the other bots that had entered the room suffered a similar fate. Between the whoop of the alarm and the AI’s screeching, there was a woman’s voice.

“Fire Detected. Please Evacuate STARCommand in a calm and orderly manner.” Gage realized it was the same woman who recorded most of the loudspeaker announcements around the park. The same warning played in Spanish before repeating, just like the monorail.

Gage spat out his water logged cig, walking over to the bot that had been chasing him. He knocked it over and kicked its head. “Fucker,” Gage growled before stalking forward. Daniels and several Operators were popping up from behind the server cases with confusion etched into their features. Some of them stared up at the ceiling, just watching the water spray all around them.

It had only taken Kincaid a moment of confusion before she started to use the interruption to her advantage, going over to the main computer terminal and starting to work on shutting the AI down.

“Don’t you dare! Don’t touch me you godless heathen!” the AI cried out, the woman on the screen looked just as calm as it usually did- save the facial expression of pure terror.

Kincaid pulled back from the computer, shoving her soggy curls away from her face. Her eyebrows raised and she tilted her head. She let out a little hum and turned away from the screen. She looked to Daniels, hooking her thumbs in her belt loops.

“Hey can I borrow your bat for a second?” she asked calmly as if the AI wasn’t shrieking behind her. He nodded dumbly and pulled it off his belt, handing the cherry stained wooden baseball bat over to the boss.

Kincaid weighed it in her hands, making a face before getting a solid grip on it. She turned and swung it full force into the AI’s screen. The glass exploded with a spider web of cracks as the bat collided with it, the AI screaming as the screen reeled away. Kincaid followed it, hitting the arm the screen was attached to and breaking it off. It hit the floor with a loud bang as glass shattered against the cement.

She brought the bat down on the downed screen over and over again as the AI sobbed over the speakers. When she had gotten her catharsis she pulled back and stalked back over to the computer. She laid the cherry bat against the desk and crouched down, prying open the computer case. She dug around inside, grabbing cables and wrenching them out by the handful, tossing them over her shoulder. The AI’s voice faded out into static as Kincaid grabbed something in the case. She pulled it out and stood up. It was a hard drive of some sort, and Gage watched as she slid it into her bag.

The room went silent as the alarms faded out. The flow of water slackened and then stopped, leaving them all soaked to the bone.

Kincaid hauled up the baseball bat, looking it over. “This is nice,” she commented with a nod, spinning it in her hand. She turned to Daniels. “I’m keeping it. Thanks.”

Daniels opened his mouth like he was going to argue, but he must have thought better than to talk back to the Overboss because his mouth snapped shut and he just nodded before looking to his men. He motioned towards the door, leaving the soaked server room.

ED-E beeped as it hovered in from the stairwell, surveying the damage. 

“Jeeeesus,” Gage’s voice grated over the speakers and, startled, Gage turned to it.

“Motherfucker, don’t use my voice,” Gage growled at it. Now that the adrenaline wasn’t pumping through him, Gage was became distinctly aware of how much pain he was in. it was not going to be a fun walk back to Nuka Town. He let out a sigh and plopped down in a waterlogged chair, rubbing his leg as best he could with the brace. 

ED-E beeped at him before it floated over to Kincaid. She laughed, leaning on the bot as it nudged her side. “How’s it feel Gage?” Kincaid asked. Gage looked up at her and tilted his head as Kincaid smiled that playful smile of hers. 

“How’s it feel to have taken the first park?”

 


	17. Now That I Found You

The Operators skimmed surprisingly little, thus far. Gage was almost impressed! He leaned back on the couch and tried to stretch out the crick that had formed in his back from leaning forward for so long and set aside the ledger Mags had given him so he could copy down what he needed to his own paperwork. He had the Nuka World’s financial books he’d created just after Colter lead the gangs to take over the parks spread out on the coffee table in front of him. For the last hour, he had worked to bring everything up to date. Taking the Galactic Zone had been a giant step forward and the influx of caps had to be accounted for while he had the downtime and the energy to run the numbers. He’d had to find something to keep himself occupied while Kincaid spent the day doing who knows what kind of fancy primping to get ready for the bash the Operators had planned. The Overboss hadn’t planted the Operators flag on the grounds yet, but he was damn sure she was going to once they had enough parks so that none of the gangs felt shafted in the meantime. 

“Hey, Gage, can I get your opinion? Pink? Or yellow?” Kincaid asked. She had stepped out from behind the makeshift curtain she’d put up to separate her bedroom from their general living space on the balcony. Gage hadn’t really heard her, but looked up at the sound off his name and immediately felt the blood rush to his face. She was in nothing but a pair of tiny silk panties standing in the pink-orange glow of the sun starting to set. She had two little pre-war numbers in her hands, cleaner than most clothes you’d find in Nuka World. One dress was a floral print skirt with a pink blouse, and the other was a yellow sundress with little white polka dots scattered about. She held one up to her bare body, and then the other.

“What do you think?” she asked when he didn’t respond, and she tilted her head and looked at him with her soft, hazel eyes. He swallowed down his embarrassment hoping to take the flush gathering on his face with it, and tried to look over the dresses instead of her bare tits and tried to think critically so he could give a semblance of a thoughtful response. The pink one matched her hair in a nice way, and the bottom hemline was shorter, and very flattering as far as her legs were concerned, but that yellow one had thin straps that would leave her shoulders bare, and the neckline plunged just so in a way that set his mind on fire with ideas he shouldn’t be having about the Overboss. He quickly realized that none of the thoughts he was having were really helpful as far as helping her choose a dress for the party.

Oh, but how that yellow flattered her dark skin, how it brought out the bits of gold in her eyes, the pink of her hair- Gage had a million ideas of what he would love to do with her in that dress. He could imagine in detail how it would feel to slowly unzip the back and how it would just flutter to the floor, leaving her back bare and giving him a perfect view of that delicate tattoo that was perched right on her shoulder blade. How much he wanted to press kiss after kiss right up the length of the scar that ran from the base of her hips all the way up her spine- 

Those were bad thoughts, very very bad thoughts. Here there be monsters.

“Uhhhhh,” he drawled when he realized he hadn’t made a sound yet. Gage swallowed again and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry boss I ain’t sure what, uh, what one would be best for what you’re goin’ for here. I ain’t exactly an expert on fancy dressin’,” he told her, and she let out a good-natured laugh. 

“I can tell,” she smiled at him and her eyes went from his ratty boots, up his torn leather pants, and then it lingered on his favorite top, which was admittedly still bloodstained. He was almost insulted, but in reality, she was absolutely correct. “Which one do you think would make a better impression on Mags?” Kincaid asked and held the yellow one to her torso again. Oh god, did he like that little yellow number. It wasn’t as short at the floral print, but that didn’t mean her legs would look any less appealing. “Though I might go see if I have my White Gloves dress. I think that would work for the kind of fancy dinner party Mags would throw, much better than one of my day dresses,” she hummed, putting both dresses over her arm. “I wish I had my wardrobe from Vegas. I had so many goddamn clothes to choose from I just about would lose my mind,” she said as she walked back up the platform towards her bed. 

Gage hated to watch her leave but he loved to watched her go. The moment she disappeared behind the curtain around her bed, he looked down and took several deep breaths in an attempt to get himself under control. Jesus Christ, she was going to be the death of him. He knew it. There was no way the Boss didn’t notice him staring at her chest or the flush that had crept up his neck and taken over his face.

“Hey Gage-” she called out. Startled, he looked up, his back going straight as a yardstick. 

“Yeah, Boss?” he called back. He tried to lean back on the arm of the couch and tried to play like everything was normal and casual. 

“What do you think about this one?” she asked as she stepped out, she wasn’t naked this time, thank god, but she was in a red, sparkly dress that hugged her waist and hips with a sash that wrapped around her shoulders. “I don’t quite fill the top of this one out but,” she paused, and turned slightly to show off the dress. He had expected the back to be much like the front, but the fabric dipped low enough he could almost, almost see the top of her ass. Gage’s eye went wide as she turned. The light caught on her every curve like the dress was covered in a thousand little diamonds. “I can always stuff my bra with C4. It’s my usual go to-”

Wait a moment.

Stuff her bra with C4? That was enough to jumpstart a more rational part of his mind.

Gage sat up. “Boss what the fuck did you just say?” he raised a brow and she laughed, holding the top of the dress did seem to hang loosely closer to her with her arm. “Did you just-? Do you really-?”

“Yes, Gage. I stuff my bra with explosives. I’m surprised this surprises you.” Kincaid laughed and waved him off with her free hand. “It's handy in a fight where I need a little extra boom- if you know what I mean?” No, he did not know what she meant and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Is this a Mojave thing? Was this something that women in the Mojave did on the regular? Or was this a Kincaid-Thing? 

“Boss that,” he paused, leaning forward and gesturing at her with his hands. “That can’t be safe”

“It's perfectly safe, you can shoot C4 without it going off. Hell, it’s saved my ass in a pinch when I wasn’t wearing my chest piece,” Kincaid told him as she waved him off. “And if I need to get somewhere and I don’t have any pins to spare I can just blow the lock- it’s simple, efficient, handy.”

Gage still wasn’t quite convinced, but she didn’t give him a chance to refute her further before retreating back behind the curtain. He looked up at the ceiling for a moment before looking back down to remember the books spread out in front of him. He was working on the books. 

The financial books were something safe. The lines of numbers on the pages were easy to retreat his mind into; numbers made sense. He shoulda just kept working on the books and ignored whatever tangent the Boss was on with her looks.

He picked up his ledger and she came out again, dressed in nothing but an oversized tee-shirt with a large decal of Cappy on the front. He raised an eyebrow as she flopped down next to him. She looked over, raising an eyebrow. “We have two hours before this shindig to make you presentable,” she told him.

Make him presentable? He stared at her for a moment and squinted. “The fuck you mean?”

“You’re my date. I thought it was obvious. My second has to be there to watch my ass while I schmooze,” Kincaid told him, picking at her fingernails. He stared at her for a minute, blinking stupidly. She smiled at him, waiting for his brain to catch up. 

“Oh,” he mumbled, and he felt the blood rush to his face. “Wait- I’m your date?” he asked as she laughed. 

“Of course! I’m not going without you and it's not like Mags sent you an invite,” she reached up and pat his good cheek. She wasn’t wrong, either. Mags had sent up an Operator to hand deliver a fancy invitation with Kincaid’s name written out in loopy calligraphy, but his name was quite obviously missing and the Operator kid had all but sneered at him on her way in and out. “Come on. Let's get into the better light so I can handle whatever,” she gestured to his matted hair, “this mess is.” Kincaid stood up and Gage just looked after her. “With a little bit of patience, a few adjustments, and maybe a wet wash rag we could make a handsome man out of you, yet.” 

Ok, he understood the decision to have him as her date was a tactically sound decision. He would be on hand to protect her ass while she got in good with the bosses. He could help deter any stab happy raiders from trying to take advantage of her. But god what would he even wear? He had nothing but his shitty pants, his stained tank top, and a couple of Nuka World tee-shirts. None of it was anything fancy enough to keep the Operators satisfied. She seemed to have faith in his ability to clean up though, and that flattered him just a little bit. He’d never really had someone think he was all that attractive outside of quick flings and, honestly, he hadn’t been called handsome since his fucking nan had passed when he was twelve. 

Kincaid took his hands in hers and stood up, tugging on them gently. When he didn’t seem to take the hint she swung his hands back and forth, rocking back on her heels. It was an innocent gesture, but Gage couldn’t help but pause and watch. He looked back up at her and swallowed down his nervous thoughts. 

“Come on Gage. no time like the present,” she smiled and Gage made a quick mental adjustment. Fuck it. He was already in too deep anyway. 

“Ok Boss,” he said as he stood up. Kincaid got really giddy, bouncing as she pulled him by the hand towards the center of the Fizztop patio. 

“Ok wait here, I’m gonna go get my hair kit!” she told him, squeezing his hand gently before making her way back over to her little bedroom. He stood there in silence for a moment, watching where she had run off to. 

He had no idea what she planned to do to him, but it couldn’t be any worse than the shit that colter put him through on the regular. At most he’d look like a fucking ponce ala the operators for a night, at best he’d probably look better overall. She did her own hair, so he had faith in her abilities at least. When she had the time she always looked like an atom bomb- like she’d stepped right on out of those pre-war skin mags that got swapped around the campfire at night.

She came back with a little bag and set it on the bar. She pulled out one of the barstools with the faded Nuka World logo on the seat and patted it. “Ok love! Sit on down and let's see what I have to work with!” Kincaid told him, patting the seat. Gage looked at it and did what he was told and worried just a little bit at his own lack of witty comment.

“Do you mind if I shave your hawk? We just don’t have time to save it. Not tonight, anyways. Plus, I’d have to scavenge conditioner and a strong enough comb, not to mention our lack of working showers-” Kincaid rambled on a little bit as she moved behind him. He stared ahead as her soft hands went over his ill-kept scalp. 

“Whatever you want Caid,” he said softly as she hummed behind him. 

“We can definitely grow you a better kept one if we just shave this off, the mohawk is quite charming after all. It suits you, I think.” He felt her rest her hands on his shoulders. His world narrowed down to her hands against his skin, how warm they felt, how soft she kept them. She idly ran her thumb across his skin while talking and it was the most distracting thing Gage had ever felt in his life. He wasn’t sure he heard a word she said. She lifted her hands and he was almost sad until she came around to his front and put her hands on his cheeks. 

“Ok. you ready?” she asked softly, her eyes locked on his hairline. He nodded and it was all good until she slid her fingers under his patch. 

He hadn’t considered she’d need to take it off to do this. A surge of panic welled up in him and he couldn’t help but flinch away. She stopped, looking surprised and concerned. God, it cut him to the bone and made him feel bad. It wasn’t like he’d really ever had someone treat him this soft before, no one was ever this, this- He couldn’t even find a word to describe it. Gentle felt closest, he supposed. No one was ever gentle with him. 

“Are you ok? Did I pinch you or-”

“No no no!” Gage backtracked quickly. He brought his hand up over hers to keep her from pulling away. “Just didn’t expect it is all. Uh, I’m just, uh, not used to it.” He stumbled over his words and he felt embarrassment well up in his guts. He watched her and held his breath. He expected ridicule, teasing, anything- but instead she just smiled, this soft little smile that was somehow so much better and so much worse then what he expected. She slid her fingers under his patch again and smoothly pulled it away from his face. He looked away. He didn’t want to see her reaction to his scar again. It was ugly, even he didn’t like lookin’ at it if he didn’t have to. Out of the corner of his eye, though, he watch as she focused on his eye patch. She turned it around in her hands, eyes narrowed as she looked over it.

She frowned, and he felt a lump of cold iron form in his guts. 

“Gage you don’t have anything on the inside of this,” she said softly, running her thumb over the metal. “No padding, nothing soft. Jesus, it must be uncomfortable to wear.” She sighed and set it on the bar top with a quiet clatter. “I’ll fix it for you. If you’re ok with that.” She looked over and he just stared at her wordlessly. 

“You’re ok with that, right?” she asked with a tilt of her head. Concern was etched across her features, and he just blinked dumbly and just kept staring up at her face. “Gage?” 

“Uh! Yeah! Go ahead, I uh,” he looked away and he could feel the heat creeping up his face again. The sting of embarrassment was so much worse than his reaction to her little fashion show only minutes ago. “I don’t mind at all boss. Go right ahead, been meaning to put a cushion on it anyways.” She gently guided him to look at her again and he just stared up at her as she redirected her attention to his hair. She had her work cut out for her, he hadn’t exactly kept up on himself since long before she got there. The moment Colter started targeting him, vanity went right out the window in favor of survival. He wasn’t proud of it, but it was what it was.

Kincaid reached over into her kit and produced a razor. Gage went deathly still as she began working on shaving his head. She was practically in his lap, cutting away old matted bits of hair piece by piece.

She was quiet while she worked, entirely focused on her new task. Intent on her work, she tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth. All at once, he couldn’t look away from her pale pink lips, hovering right in front of his face as she leaned in to look closer. It wouldn’t take much to just lean in and kiss her, and he wanted to, but it took more courage and less sense than he had to actually do it.

The more she worked, the more confident she seemed to get. Tilting his head this way and that to get a better angle as she continued to worry her bottom lip. “Your poor scalp. This is going to feel so much better I promise.” She said softly as she idly ran her thumb across the scars under his empty eye socket. Yeah, it was healed over, the eye long was gone, but it was still so god damn sensitive- even two decades later. It ached whenever the cold got too bad, and every touch felt strange like it was too overwhelming for any pressure at all. Gage bit his lip and swallowed nervously. He hadn’t let anyone touch his hair for a long time, a very very long time. It was too intimate, too personal. Most raiders were smart enough to not trust other raiders, especially not with razors close to important things and he liked to think he was smarter than the average raider.

And yet here he was, trusting her. Maybe it was because she wasn’t really a raider yet, maybe it was because he was so god damn infatuated with her. He didn’t know, and he actually struggled to care. 

It was a night of firsts apparently.

She pulled him so that he leaned forward, his head all but tucked into the crook of her neck while she worked on shaving the back of his head. He tried to hold his breath, to not breathe her in. It was intoxicating though, the smell of whatever she put on each morning was heavenly. Gage lost himself for a moment, relaxing and just letting himself breathe.

“There we go,” her voice brought him back to reality as she straightened him out. She slid off his lap and tilted his head to look over the cut. “Come take a look. I think I did a pretty good job. It’s all nice and even,” she smiled and reached over to the bar. Gage watched her hand as she brought over a hand mirror. She looked at herself for a moment in it, one of her eyebrows arching as she checked her makeup. She smiled and then turned it around. Gage resisted the instinctual flinch, and instead focused on his new hair cut. She’d evened out the new growth, leaving him with a course, close-cropped crew cut instead of his typical mohawk usually bare sides. 

“Wow.” He couldn’t help running a hand over what remained. 

“Feels a lot better yeah?” Kincaid asked as she set aside the mirror. He nodded, and it wasn’t like he was lying either. It did feel better, it felt a hellofa lot better. He looked back up at her as she put her hands on his cheeks again. 

“How long has it been since you last shaved?” she asked, tilting his chin up. He froze in his seat, his eye going wide. He racked his brain and tried to think of when he last had the ability to worry about scrapping it down. It’d been a long while, since before he got caught by those Gunners at least. It wasn’t like he really could grow a beard, too much damn native in him. The most he got was patchy stubble and a few patches of longer hair. He usually didn’t bother to do more than just scrape it down a little bit, so it didn’t get too unruly. 

“I dunno,” he mumbled quietly with a shrug. She laughed softly and, Jesus Christ, her pleased little laugh did something to him. His chest tightened when she laughed, and he liked to think it wasn’t unlike his physical reaction to her body. She was pretty and basic biology did what it was going to do, just like it had for the history of human nature.

“Ok, do you mind if I even you out a little bit?” She put her hand on his jaw, over the worst of the patchy hair. “You’re pretty scruffy and while the stubble is definitely part of your charm, I think it might need a woman’s touch, you know?” she tilted her head and bit her lip again, Gage’s vision focusing down on her mouth. 

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you want, Boss.” Oh he was going to get himself in trouble with that someday, but he really couldn’t be arsed to care. He could barely think with how much effort it took to keep himself in check. If he didn’t know any better, he might think she was doing all of this on purpose, just to tease him with what he couldn’t have.

She picked up the razor and kept a hand on his chin while she worked. It was even more intimate than when she was going at his hair and he found himself tensing up the closer she got to his neck. He couldn’t help it, it would be so god damn easy for her to just pull it right across and let him bleed out right there, she could run away and be free and not have to deal with Nuka World anymore. She could just free herself right here, cut the throat of the man who cruelly tricked her into servitude, no one would miss him either- 

But she didn’t. She just dutifully neatened up his shave, worked on evening out the patchier bits of his shadow of a beard. 

When she finished, she wiped the razor on her oversized tee-shirt and hummed in satisfaction. “There we are. Look at you, cleaning up so nice like that.” she started to put away her kit and Gage just sat there. He found himself rubbing his trimmed stubble. 

“Now let's go check out those suits I had the Operators bring up.” 

Wait, what? 

“Whatta ya mean?” he asked, leery of whatever she had planned. He narrowed his eye at her and she put her hands on her hips while an insidious smile stretched across her mouth. 

“I had the Operators bring me up suits in roughly your size. Because I knew there was going to be a party, and I knew you had nothing to wear.” Kincaid took his hands again and pulled him forward. He slid off of the bar stool and she pulled him into the depths of Fizztop. “There is one that I am just dying to see you in. It's not a full suit so hopefully, you won’t feel so stuffy in it, but it’s got this nice little vest that I think would be so flattering on your frame.” Gage followed like he was in a daze. Even with the sun setting the Fizztop patio was far more brightly lit than the dimly lit Grille, and the change didn’t do him any favors. 

She pulled him over to a bunch of boxes that had the Operators symbol stamped on the side, and Gage had honestly figured they were probably weapons and ammo, provisions and shit. The damn near last thing he had ever expected was for her to buy clothes for him. 

If he was honest with himself, the last thing he would expect to be in those boxes was a deathclaw, though it would have to be a real tiny little deathclaw to fit in the box. He was pretty damn sure that wasn’t the case, but it wasn’t like he hadn’t thought of it though. 

“And if you need some tailoring, I’m pretty decent in a pinch, I tailor my own dresses on the regular.” Gage just watched as she sliced open the box with her thumb, running her nail right through the duct tape along the seam. She reached in and started pulling out dark fabric with a real subtle pin-stripe pattern on it. “Here, go try this on while I decide which shirt is going to go best with this,” she told him, waving him off like she was shooing him. He looked down at the slacks in his hands and licked his lips nervously. 

These pants were probably more expensive than all of his shit combined, and the Operators wouldn’t take too kindly to him doing anything to ruin them.

He made his way behind his privacy curtain and stripped out of his leathers. The slacks fit him well enough, though they were loose in the waist. It couldn’t be helped, really. He slid his belt out of his leathers, letting the pants fall away. He cinched it around his waist and adjusted his belt buckle. He made sure the emergency shiv was secure before stepping out. Kincaid had many different shirts laid out on all of the different pieces of furniture, in all sorts of different fabrics and colors. 

He walked over and she looked up at him, her eyes instantly darting down to check his pants. She smiled and clasped her hands together. 

“I like it!” she told him, grabbing his belt and pulling him slightly closer. Gage panicked for a moment, but she just adjusted it so that his belt buckle was centered. “Very nice. Good touch with the belt,” she told him, knocking her knuckle against the metal. 

“Ok, pick a shirt,” she turned from him, motioning to the shirts she’d been laying out. He looked over the selection and swallowed back anxiety. It was just a shirt. He couldn’t make the wrong decision. Except he could, he very much could. He could pick a dumb color or a bad pattern, something that didn’t fit or something that made him look bad. 

“Gage?” Kincaid asked softly, Gage looking over and swallowing down his fear. “You ok?” she asked, taking his hand in hers and running her thumb over his knuckles. 

“Yeah, yeah, just thinking is all,” Gage told her, looking back over the shirts. It was just a shirt. She’d tell him if it was bad, hell, she probably wouldn’t have laid it out if she didn’t think it was going to work. He took a breath and scratched the back of his head before pointing to a soft green shirt. 

“Hows that one boss?” he asked as he looked over at Kincaid. She picked it up and held it to his chest. His blood ran cold as her eyes narrowed, one of her brows arching. He felt his heartbeat in his ears, he was light-headed and his chest got tighter and tighter until he was sure he had forgotten how to breathe. 

“Yeah. It suits you, I think,” Kincaid nodded decisively. With that first word, just one word all of the anxiety flowed from Gage, and he had to actively not suck in a gulp of air. “The color is good on you, and the cut would flatter your shoulders,” she told him, holding it up. “You can even wear that dingy tank top under it-” she bit her lip like she was thinking and Gage could have sworn he saw color rise up to her cheeks. 

“Here! Put it on. See if you like the texture,” she handed it to him, span him around, and motioned him to go back to his little corner of the grille. He looked over his shoulder at her and she ignored him, digging around in the box for something else. He looked down at the shirt in his hands.  
Gage didn’t bother moving, it wasn’t like he was going to strip to put on the shirt. The silky fabric slid over his skin and made him shiver. He brought it around and started to button it up. For a moment, it was like he was back at the old homestead, putting on his good clothes, getting ready for church. It had been decades, but his fingers remembered how to work the buttons, one by one, from the bottom up. He worked the cuffs, swearing softly as the button slipped out of his fingers. Some part of him knew this, but it had been so long and he was so out of practice.

Caid gently took his wrists and Gage looked up. Her nimble fingers just rolled the sleeves right up, giving him more mobility. Gage swallowed hard as she moved to straighten out the shirt on him, nodding to herself. As an afterthought, he unbuckled his belt to tuck in the shirt. He half expected to hear his nan scold him for dressing so sloppily. When he had finished, he looked up to see Caid just sorta looking at him with an expression he couldn’t name.

“You clean up real good, Porter,” she said softly. She reached up to smooth out a wrinkle across in the fabric across his chest and she left her hand linger over his heart for just a moment. He froze, eye locked on her. “Here, this will complete the look with the vest. Put it on.” It was an order, no matter how softly it was spoken. Gage did as he was told, she was the Overboss, after all. As he finished tucking in his shirt she brought over a vest, helping him put it on and working on buttoning it up evenly. It was dark, contrasting with the light green of his shirt. 

They sat there in silence for a moment, Kincaid’s hands lingering on his chest for a moment longer than they needed to. She looked up at him through her lashes and, for a moment, just a single moment, he let his mind linger. He let himself think all of the things he stopped himself from thinking all evening. Things he shouldn’t be thinking, not about Kincaid. Not about the Overboss. 

He wanted to dip in, press his lips to her, to grab her wrists in his hands and just make how her felt known. He wanted to do everything, explore everything about her. He wanted to confess and profess and all those soft sappy things that people did when they were-

Was that what he was feeling? Was he infatuated with her? Or was it worse?

Was he falling in love with her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS SO FLUFFY IMA DIE.
> 
> This is so god damn self indulgent fluffy bullshit I love it!
> 
> what is love for Kincaid? its little things, its things like spending time with someone, helping them take care of themselves, its fixing eye-patches, and making sure clothing fits right. 
> 
> its love, pure, plain, and simple.


	18. Smooth

“Can you zip this for me, Porter?” 

Her voice bounced around in his head. She had turned her back to him and held her hair away from her exposed back. His gaze followed the long scar that went from the base of her neck, down her spine, all the way down, until his sight came to the small metal zipper. He could barely breathe as his knuckles brushed against her bare skin, the warmth radiating off of her sending sparks right up his spine as he pulled the zipper up inch by agonizing inch. The moment played in his head over and over.

It made him feel like a fucking leaky plasma cartridge.

He was brought back to reality though. And in reality, he was leaning against a dingy counter on the edge of the Parlor. The lights were turned real low, the music was real loud, and raiders from all three gangs were drinking. It was a celebration after all. They had the first park- and while it hadn't quite been divvied up, it was still theirs.

He scanned over the crowd, spotting the boss in the corner of the Parlor. She was on a raised little balcony, sharing a drink with Mags and William. He didn’t see Lizzie, but that wasn’t strange. She almost never left her lab, and he wasn’t surprised that even a party like this wasn’t an exception. There were other Operators around as well, but they meant nothing compared to the two bosses as they milled about. Kincaid was lit by candles and Gage couldn’t help but stare for a moment. 

She was in a champagne number that was tight in all of the right ways. It was tailored, according to her, and she had paid good money to make it fit. It was all pale pink, with a white sash tied so gentle like around the waist. Gage had marveled at the perfectly pressed bow before Kincaid had asked him to zip her up. It had flowing skirts, with more layers than Gage could count. They were silky and weighted at the bottom, flowing around Kincaid’s ankles like water. The outermost layer was lacy, embroidered with wildflowers and greenery. It was soft, too soft to be anything like a raider would wear. Even Mags, who was from the Great Green Jewel and in a dress, wore something darker, sharper. More dangerous.

Gage had asked Kincaid why she decided on that soft pink one instead of the sparkling red number. All he got was an infuriating little smile and a little tilt of her head that sent her curls cascading down her shoulder.

“Because you seemed so concerned about the C4,” she told him as she turned, lifting her pink curls. 

Kincaid was like a puzzle piece that didn’t fit. And he didn’t want her any other way. 

It played in his head again. The warmth, the sound of the zipper, the little sigh she let out when his knuckles ghosted across her skin - it was seared into his mind. She was beautiful; god she was damn near the prettiest thing he’d ever seen, not that he’d ever say it aloud outside of Fizztop, but with all of her preparing and primping, she was absolutely stunning. These fuckers didn’t deserve half the effort she put into her appearance for them. They didn’t deserve any of it. 

“What's up, Porter-Potty?” Gage turned at the familiar voice, spotting RedEye weaving through the crowd. He was the only mother-fucker who got to call Gage that and not get his face punched in. Gage would almost feel bad punching the little DJ. Almost. 

“Russ,” Gage tilted his head in greeting, going back to keeping an eye on Kincaid. There were too many people at the party to risk not keeping an eye on her. The Operators were happy enough with her, but there were a few Disciples and Pack among the crowd in The Parlor. They had yet to receive parks even unofficially, the way the Operators had.

“RedEye,” Russell corrected. He had a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He took one last puff of the cig and dropped it into the glass of Nuka-Cola in Gage’s hand.

“Was that really all that necessary?” Gage asked as he brought the glass up to eye level to see the swirl of ash seep through the drink. 

“Don’t act like you were going to drink it. I know you can’t stand Nuka, so don’t say you do,” Russell shot back. “You were just going to hold it all night so no one would offer you a drink that could be poisoned.” Gage rolled his eye and settled against the counter. The DJ mirrored him, crossing his arms and leaning back too. 

“Oh, man, is that a cute little number the Boss has on. Almost looks like she’d fit in well with the Operators.” Russ swirled his drink before taking a swig. Gage hummed and arched an eyebrow. 

He did not like that thought. He didn’t like that at all. The Overboss wasn’t supposed to take sides, especially not with Nuka-Town being a powder keg ready to blow. If she took up with the Operators, and he could see Mags offering a number of benefits if Caid did so, then there would be nothing in the world that would stop Nisha from gutting him. He shook away that thought and went to take a sip of his Nuka-Cola before he remembered that there was a cig floating in it. He wondered for a moment if the ash would actually improve the taste, but he wasn’t stupid enough to actually try it.

“Kincaid’s too smart for that. More caps in leading the gangs than pulling odd jobs for ‘em,” Gage declared, but he already knew he was trying to convince himself more than anyone. He just couldn’t let doubt show for a second.

“I don’t think it’s the caps she’s interested in,” Russell told him and gestured with his glass towards Caid. At some point, William had saddled his way up to Kincaid’s side and had his hand on her lower back. “They look cozy.”

“‘Bout as cozy as a god damn jail cell,” Gage countered, watching how Kincaid pulled away from William as he got closer. She was playing a game of careful distance, and even if she did like the Operator boss, she was being very cautious around him. Sometimes it was hard to tell, but Gage liked to think he knew the Boss better than that. He couldn’t be absolutely sure since Caid always seemed to take him by surprise in the weirdest ways, but she didn’t look interested in William to him. That gave Gage hope, at least. 

“She ain’t makin’ any real overtures there,” Gage said. He didn’t look away from Caid to even glance towards Russell.

“I dunno, man. She seems awful old fashioned,” Russ pointed out, gesturing with his own drink again. “She’s playing the dance just like any other little civvy girl. And remember, Porter: Vegas.” Gage looked over at Russell, his eye going wide. “She comes from civilization, big cities with electric lights and running water and shit. Over in the west, the girls like to be chased. Shows you’re interested in them, you want them. You know?” Gage looked back over at Kincaid, a chill running down his spine.

No, Gage did not know. If you repeatedly went after raider women when they told you ‘no’, you got your dick chopped off. Or worse. If Gage was completely honest with himself, he didn’t tend to go after women often at all- so he didn’t know jack shit when it came to how ‘civilized’ people courted each other. Gage swallowed hard and looked back at Kincaid, his mind doing flips. 

What if he’d completely misread everything? What if he’d managed to miss something so massive? Something so glaringly obvious to someone else? What if she and William were playing a game of careful distances, a dance specially timed so that there was plausible deniability?

Was she playing the game the Operators were so fond of and he didn’t even realize it?  
Gage swallowed back a cold lump of anxiety as Russell gave his shoulder a hearty thump.

“Don’t beat yourself up too bad, Porter. You can’t help being a goddamn filthy heathen.” 

That drug Gage right out of his own thoughts, and before he could even think about it, he was rounding on RedEye. “Excuse me, motherfucker?” Gage snarled as Russell’s laughter pittered off into quiet chuckles. Gage glared at the DJ and ran his tongue over his teeth. “Takes one to know one, asshole.” 

RedEye let out a scandalized gasp, putting his hand over his chest like some delicate debutante. “You wound me! I am here trying to help you!” Gage rolled his eye as Russell went into a tangent about helping him, the ‘clueless country bumpkin’ he was. As if Gage hadn’t been doing this shit for the last two decades. He’d been all the way down to Miami and up as far as fucking Boston. Yeah, maybe Russ had made it west at some point. Didn’t make him any smarter about people, though. 

That was it. Russell was just trying to get into his head. He was probably talking out his ass as far as ’western’ customs went. It was a game, a game Kincaid was playing to keep William on his toes and to keep the Operators under her thumb.

“I wouldn’t expect you to know the subtleties of city livin’, being from Virginy and all. You can’t help it, growing up in the mountains with only your little village for company, dreaming about the big wide world, just a small town boy, livin’ in a lonely world-” 

As Russell rambled, Gage went back to watching Kincaid. She pulled her hand away from William and her eyes darted up, locking with Gage. For a moment, it was electric, and his spine went straight as a ruler. When she looked away, Gage got the distinct impression she was sending some kind of signal that she needed him to come over and get her out of whatever was going on over there. 

“I’ll be back,” Gage told Russell as he poured the rest of his Nuka-Cola on Russell’s shoes. 

“Hey!” was all he heard as he tossed aside the now empty glass and made his way through the crowd. People moved aside at least, usually with very little fuss. There was a momentary surge of satisfaction he felt as he moved, though he knew it was just because the Operators were in too good of a mood to protest. The Disciples, Pack, and even the roamers who didn’t belong to any of the gangs got right out of his way. 

As Gage got closer, the colder his blood began to run. William was invading Kincaid’s personal space, running his hand down her arm. “Oh, you would look so lovely in one of my mother’s dresses, with white gloves going right up your arms. I haven’t seen this much grace in a wastelander for a very-” He ran his hand down her arm until he had her hand in his. He lifted it to his mouth and planted a chaste, soft, kiss to her knuckles. He looked up at her, Kincaid staring down at him. “-very long time.” 

He kept her hand in his, pulling her closer. “Come now, perhaps a dance? Or maybe you were interested in something more intimate?” he asked as Kincaid pulled her hand away. Kincaid’s gaze darted over to Gage, and the relief was visible. 

“As much as I would enjoy that, I do need to spend some time with the other Bosses tonight. Thank you, though,” Kincaid said diplomatically, William straightening up as he noticed Gage. 

“As you wish, Overboss,” William told her with a tilt of his head. Gage could feel William glaring daggers at him as Kincaid walked over and wove her arm around around his like she was a proper, good pre-war housewife. Gage stood straight, looking to Kincaid as she waved a small goodbye to William. 

“Mason is expecting me, no?” she asked Gage, her eyes scanning his face. For a moment, he was stunned, just having her next to him like this. But she needed him. She needed him to be quick on his feet. 

“Yeah, boss. He-” Gage looked to the bar, spotting the massive brute of a man. Thank god, ok, that would be enough not to insult William. An insult too grave to that wet paper sack of a human being would incur Mags’ wrath for sure. He wasn’t scared of Mags nearly as much as he was Nisha, but it was still a horrible idea to piss off either woman. “He’s over at the bar. Looks like he’s been waiting for you.” 

Gage led her away from William and was entirely unsurprised to hear her speak softly. “Thank you, Gage. He-” her eyes darted to the side to see if anyone else was close enough to hear. “He wasn’t getting the hint,” she said softly as she ran her thumb across Gage’s arm. Gage swallowed down the fluttering mess of anxiety that bubbled up into his throat.

“No problem, boss,” he told her as they rounded the bar. Mason looked over as they approached and narrowed his eyes. 

“Shit,” Mason grumbled, pushing his hair out of his face. He stank like booze and his breath could have caused food to rot. But, his face was not covered in the typical Pack warpaint, and he was dressed in slacks and his regular off blue tank top. “Is that Porter fuckin’ Gage right there?” he asked and leaned forward, a smile spreading across his face. His teeth were sharpened because, of course, they were. How had Gage not noticed that before?

“Look at him! Boss, you’ve taken Nuka-World’s favorite cyclops and made him unrecognizable. If it weren’t for the scrap strapped to his face I’d have thought you’d gone and found yourself a new boy-toy.” Mason pushed a tumbler over to Kincaid, who hopped up on one of the barstools with surprising ease. She crossed her legs at the ankles and picked up the glass. 

It was like a switch had flipped, and it threw Gage for a loop. The tiny signs of her unease, the tightness of her shoulders, the unnatural tilt to her smile, how straight she held her back, all faded as she took a sip from the drink. Gage normally would have cautioned her against it, but Gage didn’t want to look like he was coddling the Boss. Plus, poison wasn’t Mason’s style, that was something he would expect from the Disciples. If Mason was going to challenge Caid, it would be direct and probably very loud and very public.

“So Boss, what brings you to my neck of the woods?” Mason asked, taking a swig of his drink. Kincaid sighed and looked over at him, swirling her drink. 

“If William kissed my hand one more fucking time he was gonna give it a fucking STD,” Kincaid said plainly before taking a long drink. Mason laughed as Gage stared at Kincaid. He looked around, making sure there weren’t Operators around to go tattling to their boss. There weren’t. They were surrounded pretty thoroughly by Pack Animals.

Gage stood behind her awkwardly as they spoke, until Mason shooed him away. “Go on Gage, she’s in good hands- you ain’t gotta be no mother hen,” Mason told him, Kincaid looking over her shoulder. Something went across her face that Gage couldn’t quite decipher but he decided not to push his luck.

“I’ll, uh,” Gage rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll be over there if you need me, Boss,” Gage told Caid before stuffing his hands into his pockets and making his way back over to the counter he and Russell had been leaning against. The DJ had since gone and was ‘performing’ on the Parlor’s stage, leaving Gage alone as he took back up his post. 

His gut was a tangle of emotions, all wrapped up in a big ol’ ball that made him sick to his stomach. He sure didn’t have to worry about her and William, far from it apparently, if the vitriol in her voice had been any indication, but it gave him other anxieties. William was going to end up pushing her too far, pushing her over the edge and then she was going to do something that they’d both regret. Like, leave Nuka-World. 

Gage scratched his scalp, looking around the party. It was significantly calmer now then it had been when they first arrived. Kincaid had insisted they be ‘fashionable late’, whatever the fuck that meant. It had given her enough time to pick that new dress, to get her curls in order, and to straighten out the clothes Gage was wearing. He had been expecting to have to argue to keep his eye patch and was pleasantly surprised when she just pursed her lips and nodded.  
“It suits you.” 

She’d said that quite a few times while she was getting him ready. He knew what it meant, in theory, but he had no idea what she meant by it. It was just three little words, and yet every time he heard it his heart skipped a beat and his head went all kinds of fuzzy. 

“Well, well, sure didn’t expect you to clean up so nice for this party, Porter.” Gage snapped around and saw the Rat Fucker approaching with a glass in hand. “You don’t look terrible. It's amazing, really. Must have been the boss’s handiwork, yes?” Daniels asked, tilting his head. Gage fixed him with a glare and Daniels laughed.

“Oh, don’t glare at me like that, Smokey-” Daniels flicked his wrist and Gage glared at the pack of cigs in his hand. Gage snatched the cigs out of his hand and the Operator laughed. “A peace offering. Y'all did get us a park after all,” Daniels told him, And Gage just glared at him as he tucked the cigs into his pants pocket. “Now as much as I enjoy your grisly company, I only came over to say thank you, give you the pack of cigarettes, and confirm that the boss actually got you to shave that mess that was on top of your head.” The Rat Fucker took a sip of his drink and with a nod walked right past Gage, making his way towards where Kincaid was surrounded by Pack Animals. 

Gage watched after him, chewing on the thought Daniels might be a threat to the boss. When he ultimately decided he wasn’t, he pulled out the pack of cigs and promptly lit one. That first drag calmed every nerve in his body. He let the smoke out of his lungs and tried to think about taking their next park. That made him feel more in control than whatever games he needed to play at this party. Dry Rock Gulch was next, and he was sure he’d have to more or less force Caid to give the Disciples another chance to help. Not that he looked forward to having a group of the Disciple fuckers around, but they’d bitch and moan, and probably far worse if she skipped them in the rotation.

He was thinking about what sort of intel the needed for their scouting trip to the park, the kind of intel the metal walnut Caid was fond of couldn’t ferret out, that he didn’t notice a woman, dressed in all black, slink up until she was in his face. He didn’t recognize her, but he wouldn’t recognize many Disciples without their masks. She was a blonde, though, with kohl heavily rimmed around her eyes. She had two glasses in her hands, both a dark color, like Nuka-Cola with some kinda liquor mixed in.

“Don’t you look like just a picture, Porter Gage,” she said, and the second she opened her mouth, Gage realized all at once just who had singled him out. He didn’t think Dixie ever took off her mask, like Nisha, but it wasn’t like he went to their sorts of parties the gangs threw all that often. Maybe this was normal. She held one of the glasses out to him, but he knew better than to accept anything a Disciple offered him, let alone Nisha’s right-hand girl.

“Thanks, I guess. And no thanks, I’m not a fan of Nuka,” he replied. He hoped she’d get to her point soon. He glanced over at the Boss, but she was still at the bar, in a good-natured conversation with Mason.

“Nonsense,” she drawled and pushed the glass into his hand so he was forced to take it. “It’s a special little recipe I came up with for myself. I’m not really a Nuka girl, myself.” He had a momentary flash of the Nuka Girl outfit he still had yet to present to Kincaid, but he had to push away thoughts of Caid in the tight-fitting space suit for now. This wasn’t the place or the time.

Reluctantly, Gage was forced to accept the glass, but he knew better than to even pretend to take a sip. Knowing Dixie, she probably poisoned the rim of the glass and not the drink itself. When he didn’t really respond in any kinda way, Dixie stepped closer to him. He just studied her. He had no idea what her motive was. It wasn’t any of the gang raiders in Nuka-World were ever nice to him, but the Disciples had always enjoyed crossing boundaries even before everyone had cabin fever worse than a spinster in winter.

“Well, I just wanted to congratulate you on taking the first park,” Dixie said. Her voice had gotten low and sultry. She brought a hand up to trace down his bicep. “I’ve been hearing all sortsa stories about how you stopped a whole army of robots at once.”

Gage bit back a sigh. Now he’d have to ask Russell what kind of tales were going around now. If they were worse than the ones before, he’d probably gut Rat Fucker, just for being there when it happened.

“Yeah, set off the old fire alarm system. Sprinklers shorted them all at once,” Gage offered. He really didn’t want to be talking to Dixie, but he couldn’t give them more reason to hate him by snubbing Nisha’s second. Like Mags, Dixie didn’t scare him they way Nisha did, but she was a close second.

“That is just so clever,” Dixie said with an exaggerated tilt to the last word. She stepped closer once more, so she was practically pushing her chest against his arm. He tried to take a step back to give himself space, but he already had a counter that was against a wall at his back. “Have you thought about what park is next?” she added like it was the most casual conversation in the world and not the whole reason Nuka-Town was a powder keg just waiting for the first spark to go off.

All at once, though, Dixie’s motives became clear as ice. She was flirting with him to jockey for better consideration, better something. She had to know the Disciples were next in the rotation, and she was scoping to make sure Gage would stick to their negotiated agreement. It was an agreement that had come back during Colter’s time, but Gage saw no reason why Kincaid would go against it. 

“Dry Rock,” he answered truthfully. He had no reason to lie about it, and it wasn’t like it was some huge secret. “It’s got a blood worm infestation to clear out, but should go smoother than Nuka Galaxy, unless we come up against a bunch of pissed off trader chumps locked up inside.”

“And that’ll be ours, right?”

“That’s what we negotiated,” Gage answered. He weighed the drink in his hand, toying with the idea of just setting it down on the counter. He just wanted to get out of this conversation, and he kind of wanted to grab Caid and go home. He was already tired, and everything put him on edge.

“That’s good to hear,” she brought back her low and sultry tone to her voice and Gage had a hard time taking her seriously, now that he’d caught on to what she was doing, “because I’d really hate for some kind of accident to happen.”

He hadn’t noticed her moving until she already had the flat side of a knife he couldn’t see pressed against his gut. He froze, and again attempted to step back, but once again he just hit the wall. She smiled at him, putting just a touch more pressure against the knife and spinning it so that the point was against him. 

His blood turned to ice in his veins and his heart pounding so loud in his ears that he couldn’t hear anything but Dixie’s soft laughter. The thought of his guts spilling out right onto the floor of the Parlor crossed his mind, how he’d bleed out real slow like as Dixie stepped over his intestines, bringing the knife from one side to the other. 

It was in that moment he was back inside of Fizztop, up on top of the crates stacked high in the bowels of the mountain. Nisha had him by his chin, her voice so low despite the moaning around them. She’d snatched him right out of the Fizztop lobby, a hand around his mouth, a bag over his head, Savoy’s hand on his throat. He struggled to breathe as he could feel Savoy’s fingers dig into the bruises Colter had left on either side of his neck. They’d pulled him up and up and up and up the stairs and threw him on the ground of Nisha’s private play place. When he had finally caught his breath she was standing over him, a bloodied bowie knife in her hands. He looked around and there were other people, or he thought they were people, at one point. They were bloodied, the flesh flayed from them as they wept. They were tied to frames, keeping them standing. Nisha just stared down at him, waiting for his situation to dawn on him. 

Nisha had Savoy grab him, lift him to his feet, hold him steady while she informed him of all the things she was going to do to him if he didn’t comply with her demands. if he didn’t get rid of the Overboss and put someone up who was going to do right by the Disciples. He’d begged when her knife cut into his flesh ever so slightly as she pulled it from his belt up to his collar bones, leaving a thin line of red right up his center. He squirmed, trying to get away from the raider boss, but there was no getting away from Nisha, not in her own lair. 

He’d promised anything and everything. He didn’t want to die, he had only just barely survived Colter beating him into the tile of the Cola Cars Arena. To punctuate her point, Nisha dug her knife a little deeper in the soft spot just below his ribs, using pressure to accentuate what she was telling him.

“Listen carefully. Porter,” Gage tried to back up farther, but he was pressed against the solid wall of muscle that was Savoy. He tried to focus on the feeling of the real wall of the Parlor behind him, but the scene in his mind was too strong, the smell of blood too fresh. “You’ll kill Colter, and you’ll put up an Overboss that will honor the terms of our deal.” Nisha’s voice was flat, even as she twisted the tip of her knife into his flesh. He choked out a gasp, Savoy’s hand clasping tighter against his already bruised windpipe. “And you’ll do it within the week. Or I’m going to remove your skin. Inch. by. Inch.” Nisha pressed a hand against his chest and pressed that knife just a centimeter deeper. “And then, I’m going to hit you with a stim-” she sounded almost pleasant, running her thumb against the stubble across his chin. “And I’m going to cut you open, let your intestines squirm on the ground, and scoop your good eye out with my favorite spoon.” She brought her hand up, sliding her thumb under his patch and pressing down on his empty eye socket. It just about brought Gage to his knees with a gasp, had Savoy not been holding him up. The pressure was just too much against the sensitive skin. “And just when you think you’re gonna die, I’m gonna make sure you don’t. You’re gonna be my plaything for a very, VERY long time.”

“Understand, Gage?” Dixie’s voice brought him back to reality. Gage felt like he was going to vomit, his skin was clammy and his vision was swimming. “Porter, a lady expects an answer, you shouldn’t be rude,” she said softly as the sharp bite of the knife through his silk shirt brought him straight to attention. He dropped his cig and it hit the ground with barely a whisper of sound, and if Dixie hadn’t caught the glass, he’d have dropped that too. She set it on the counter on his other side. He was struggling to get through the fog in his head, the visions of his own blood on the ground, the knife in his side. He opened his mouth to speak, to say something to get her to back off, to get her away from him-

“I’m a lesbian!!” Kincaid shouted, and suddenly all attention was on the boss. Gage stared ahead, his eyes locked on her. She had flushed a bright red, and she had snatched her hand away from William and was holding it as if he’d hurt her. 

He’d let himself be distracted, and he’d left the Boss wide open for an attack like that. This was the exact reason she’d brought him, to watch her back and he’d failed at his one and only job that night. He extracted himself from Dixie while she was distracted like everyone else was, and quickly grabbed Caid’s shawl and handbag from where she’d left them. Caid had apparently already made her necessary goodbyes because she appeared at his side when he turned around next.

“Ready to go?” she asked. He didn’t like the sharp edge to her voice, but he couldn’t say he didn’t deserve it. Caid wasn’t Colter, but there was bound to be some kinda punishment for him messing up that bad. He just nodded, and there was an unease silence until they passed through the doors to the open air. The courtyard was normally pretty busy, day or night, but the raiders that usually hung out there were either at the party or on their home turf.

“Look, Boss-” he started, but he had no idea how to continue. How did he justify his failure? How could he ease her very real anger?

“What the hell were you doing tonight, Gage?” she asked. She didn’t yell, but he almost wished she did. He opened his mouth to answer, but she didn’t give him the chance to say anything. Not that he had any idea what he would say. “You were supposed to be my date. I was supposed to be able to rely on you. I tried getting your attention over and over again. I didn’t want to be around William and you knew it. And when I needed you, you were too busy with some Operator hussy-”

“Operator? Boss-”

“No, Gage, the technical details don’t fucking matter. The simple fact is that I needed you and you were too busy to actually help like you were supposed to,” she said. He just looked down. This was worse than yelling, worse than anger. There was just nothing in her voice, just empty, void of any emotion. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

She finally paused long enough to let him actually respond, but he just didn’t have any fight left in him. Not tonight.

“No, Boss. You’re right. I fucked up,” he said softly, almost too low to hear.

She glanced at him but didn’t say anything further. The same, heavy silence followed them to the lift, and up to Fizztop. She didn’t ask him to help with her zipper, just did it herself. He’d suspected she didn’t need his help earlier, but he didn’t have the energy to think too hard about it. Kincaid paused at the screen to her bedroom for just a moment.

“Good night, Gage,” she said. She sounded different, less flat, and that helped but he really didn’t want to pick that apart too. “I’ll see you in the morning, alright?”

“Yeah, Boss,” he agreed as a reflex, “in the morning.”

She disappeared behind her curtain, so he went to his own bedroom inside the Grille. He pulled off the vest and put it back on the hanger Caid had pulled it from. He started to unbutton the silk shirt, but a sting on pain on his side stumbled his fingers as he pulled the shirt away from the very open wound. He frowned at the small blood stain around the slice in the silk. He could mend the tear, but he had no idea how to get blood out of his cotton tank top, let alone silk, so that shirt was more or less ruined. He was sure the Operators would charge them, him, for that, but he didn’t care to think about the cap cost right now. 

He didn’t even bother taking off the suit pants while he fetched the first aid kit from the bathroom. It wasn’t too bad of a wound, everything before Caid had been worse, but it was never fun to have to bandage himself up after a dustup. He was just so tired. Large crowds of people, like at the gang parties, had always taken a lot out of him, and tonight was worse than most.

When he’d cleaned and bandaged his side, he just left the first aid kit open on the table next to his bed. He’d take care of it in the morning before Caid got up. He just wanted to crawl into bed. Though sleep didn’t come right away. He was still processing so much, the flashback, Dixie, and-

Caid.

Kincaid had announced to everyone, or at least everyone would know by morning, that she was a lesbian. It made so much make sense. There was no way she was actually interested like he had started to hope. That was for the best, of course. She was still the Boss and he was in too much danger already. That didn’t stop a dull ache from gathering in his chest, though. He tried to push the thoughts away. He just wanted to sleep.

He was in so much fucking trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kincaid isn't a lesbian.
> 
> She's a bisexual disaster who panics and says the first thing that comes to mind. 
> 
> unfortunate for poor Gage though. poor poor Gage.


	19. Movement

He jolted awake the first time she came in. And he was awake the second time, and the third, fourth, and fifth. Plus every time after he’d lost track of how many times she visited. After that first time, he wasn't sure he'd gotten any real sleep at all. He'd faded in and out at some point, but whatever it was that he got was not restful. He couldn't call it sleep or even rest if he was being honest.

It was three in the afternoon, and she'd come in twice in the last hour. Gage laid there facing the wall, still as death as she crept in. She would come and stand by his bed and stare at his back. It would only be for a moment or so, but it put every hair on his neck on god damn end. She'd slink off when she'd gotten whatever she was in there for. It left Gage laying in bed with goosebumps up his arms. It was driving him insane but it wasn't like she was saying anything.

And he sure as hell was not keen on starting that particularly shitty conversation.

Gage finally rolled over onto his other side and shoved himself up. He palmed at his good eye and in a fruitless attempt to wipe away the exhaustion that plagued him. He let out a heavy sigh and let his shoulders sag. He was too goddamn tired to deal with the day. He had needed restful sleep, but he found nothing between his nightmares of Nisha. That, and the endless possibilities of Kincaid's wrath.

He peeled the blanket off of himself and winced as the now dirty bandage on his side stuck. It stung like a bitch as he pulled the plaster away. It was what he got for using an old pre-war bandage, he supposed. He picked at the blood dried to his skin and tossed aside the bloodied fabric. It was impossible to tell if he had caught an infection yet, but considering Dixie's knife? He was not optimistic. It didn't help he was still all clammy and sweaty from his nightmares, and whatever fit Dixie had thrown him into. He'd relived one of the worst moments of his life over and over again thanks to her. His head started to hurt if he thought about it for too long. It was best to not think about it.

God, he was fucking pathetic.

He wasn't ready to go and face Kincaid. He didn't want her to be angry at him, or disappointed, or anything like that. he wanted to go back to normal, whatever their new normal was.

He felt awful, sticky with dried sweat so he reached over and grabbed the rag he kept by his bed. He tried hard to wipe away the grime and filth that coated his skin. It would make him feel better, he knew this. He still felt like a disgusting little worm though. Usually, or at least, before Kincaid, he would let it slide and go about his day. But Kincaid liked it when he took care of himself, even if it was little things, little steps. He palmed at his face again before reaching for his rucksack. He had water in there, he knew it, among all of his leftover supplies from their conquest of Nuka Galaxy. He knew he hadn't used it, and he might as well use it to get cleaned up. When they had got back to the Grille he'd thrown his pack in his corner and left it there. They had more important things to do at the time anyway.

He pawed around in the sack for a moment before he found some kind of clean, white fabric. Momentarily confused, he pulled it out before he remembered it was the folded up Nuka-Girl costume. It was all tucked away, waiting for the right moment. he pulled out the white leather and held it in his hands. He'd been looking forward to gifting it to Kincaid. It wasn't like the other useless tat he'd found for her. He couldn't stash it somewhere and wait for her to find it. It was big, it was personal. He had to actually give it to her himself.

And now look. He'd gone and fucking botched that. She'd been completely ticked off now, and for all he knew he could be the next body to go tumbling out of Fizztop.

He was going to have to face her eventually. There was nothing for it. If he didn't seek her out, she'd slink back in sooner or later. it wasn't like he could pretend to be asleep forever.

He'd have to face whatever punishment she deemed fit to give him.

He'd fucked up. It was plain and simple. If he'd had been paying attention, William would not have gotten as close as he did. He wouldn't have invaded her personal space and set her off. Gage was lucky it was William and not some Disciple upstart who had a shiv. Had it been more of a threat, Kincaid would be dead, and so would he.

And what was he doing? Off getting shivved by Dixie.

He could make the argument that having Dix's attention on him saved her ass. He could argue that Dixie stabbing him was far better then her stabbing the Boss. Or poisoning her, or kidnapping her, torturing her, sending her back to make a point and-

Those were bad thoughts. Best not think about that.

The idea of those psychopaths getting their hands on Kincaid made his blood run cold and ice form deep in his guts. It was almost worse than the Disciples getting their hands on him. He knew she could take care of herself, but she wasn't like him, she wasn't like him at all. She spent her time helping people.

He supposed if he could keep Nisha's attention off the boss, then he did his job well enough right? It didn't change that he was still in deep water with Kincaid, but it helped him calm down a little bit at least.

It was all making his head hurt worse though, so he focused instead on the Nuka-Girl outfit. The leather was soft and supple, and the machine stitching was more exact than anything he'd ever seen. it ran up the sides of the leggings in two perfect little rows, so pristine, so exact. He appreciated how well preserved the costume was. You didn't see things like that in the wasteland very often, and not near as good of condition as the leather was in.

That was when the thought came to him.

He could use it to redirect Kincaid's wrath. A couple of words of apology, a little bit of convincing, and an outfit that was almost made for her, and he could get out of this mostly unscathed, probably. He knew she wasn't Colter, god she was nothing like the previous Overboss, but that made it worse. With Colter, he could expect a black eye, a fat lip, something he could fix. With Kincaid? He had no idea what she was going to do. It bothered him more than he cared to admit. Was it going to be that disappointed little head tilt she did? Was it going to be that low, flat voice with no emotion like the night before? Or worse, was it going to be that cold laughter that dug down deep into his bones and settled like a winter frost.

The possibilities were so much worse then any physical violence Colter could come up with.

He set aside the Nuka-Girl costume and resumed digging around his pack for water. He pulled out a bottle and gave it a quick once over, making sure it was actually purified water. Once he determined he wasn't going to burn his skin off, he poured it on the rag. The cool damp cloth felt like heaven against his forehead. He let out a little sigh and worked to get most of the grime off. He felt better at least, and he'd take every single small victory.

He slid the slacks off of his hips and retrieved his belt from their loops. He wanted the familiarity of his leathers, the sense of normalcy and comfort. He dug around in his laundry pile for a moment before finding them. He held them out at arm's length, going over the damage. They were so close to blowing out and he dreaded the day they did.

He pulled them up and cinched his belt, not bothering to slide his tank top on.

He turned next to the medkit that was on the table. Or at least it was supposed to be. He was going to bandage his side again, but it was gone. He stared at the table where he left it for a moment, thinking. He hadn't moved it, he'd left it right there. It was right fucking there.

Then it dawned on him. It was gone, the table had been cleared, the medkit was missing.

Kincaid had seen it. Kincaid had seen it and likely put it away. She knew he got hurt or at least would suspect it. If there was anything that would be worse then her wrath, it was her pity.

Pity could be useful, it could be useful for manipulation or to get in good with powerful people. But god, Gage's pride was one of the few things he had left. He didn't want to be pitied by anyone, much less Kincaid. He wanted her to respect him, and respect his skills.

He was brought back to the present by the water flowing over his hands. He had been wringing the rag while his brain did laps. He set the rag aside and ran his hands down his face.

While her knowing he was hurt made it less likely for her to be mad, it just threw another variable into the meeting. There were enough unknowns already, he didn't need the possibility of pity added to it.

His head was starting to spin, but the pressure of his palm against his good eye made it feel better. It helped him fight off the waves of dizziness and helped his brain start to settle.

He sucked in a few more breaths before looking back up into the void that was the Grille. There was another thing he was dreading, something just as bad as wrath or pity. Kincaid was a lesbian. She’d announced it to every god damn important figure in the city, and it had likely spread all over the park at this point. And he was besotted. He’d never admit it out loud, not even just to himself, but he loved her. It was only yesterday that he’d been willing to admit it in the safety of his own mind. He’d become completely infatuated with her and she was a lesbian. She was never going to feel the same way.

It was better that way, tactically. Probably. It was what Gage was going to tell himself at any rate. Maybe if he repeated it a thousand times it would make him feel better. It was a cold comfort at best, but a comfort nonetheless. Things never went smoothly when emotions were involved, and that was especially true for raider gangs.

Of course, he’d fucking fall for a lesbian. That was just Porter Gage’s luck now, wasn’t it? God shits in his dinner for the umpteenth time. It was amazing he wasn’t used to it by now, but life always had a new way to kick him while he was down.

He was wrenched from his thoughts by his stomach, which snarled at him. He was so hungry, his stomach cramped hard. The last time he’d eaten was a box of snack cakes when he had started looking at the books early yesterday afternoon. They hadn’t had dinner the night before while Kincaid had gotten them ready for the bash. Gage didn’t trust nothing the Operators served, and with the disaster, they didn’t eat afterward. He figured Kincaid wouldn’t want to share anything she bought recently, which removed just about everything in Fizztop as a viable solution to his new problem. He also was in no shape to cook with his budding migraine. 

He could go to the market and buy something- but that required making it out of Fizztop without Kincaid noticing. It just wasn’t going to happen. He could get away with that shit with Colter, but Kincaid? Kincaid was leagues more observant. She’d spot him going across the courtyard and who the hell knew what she’d do. Plus, he wasn’t sure he would even be able to make it to the market to get food before his headache got too bad.

All of his problems came down to just bucking the fuck up and making himself face her. There was nothing he could do to escape that. It was a simple fact. He hated it. He hated it with every fiber of his being.

He got up and waited for the wave of nausea to pass before grabbing the Nuka-Girl costume. If he didn’t go now who knew when she’d come creeping in next. He was going to confront her on his terms if he had to do it at all, and it had to happen eventually.

He got up and padded over to the broken double doors that led to the patio. It was better to get it over with now rather than later. He needed to do what he could to subdue her wrath and find out what happened when he failed her. His hand hovered over the doorknob though as soft music filtered over the air. It seeped through the broken double doors and for a moment he closed his eye and just listened. 

He didn’t know she knew how to play guitar. 

It was a soft melody, nothing complex. She was singing too, but her voice was too quiet to make out anything distinct. He sat there for a minute or so, just enjoying the sound. Reality came crashing back like a wave though and with a twist in his guts, he quietly opened the door. 

A quick glance told him she wasn’t at the bar, nor was she in the kitchenette. He spotted her on the balcony with her legs hanging off the side. She had one of RedEye’s guitars settled in her lap as she strummed on the strings and it sounded like she was trying to remember the tune to something. She’d play a verse or two, and then go back and do it again. He knew he needed to get this over with, but there was something so beautiful about the way she played, as imperfect as the notes were. Gage just leaned on the doorway and watched her back as he listened to her play for a little longer.

She was either ignoring him or she hadn’t noticed him, he wasn’t entirely sure. She just kept playing the guitar and singing, swaying back and forth with her little song. Gage walked closer, stopping about ten feet away. He fidgeted with the Nuka-Girl costume and chewed on his lip. There was no way she hadn’t noticed him. No way he’d managed to sneak up on her. 

“Boss?”

She jumped slightly and looked over her shoulder. Holy shit, he’d managed to sneak up on her. He really had thought she had known he was there and was just waiting for him to say something first as some kind of power move. It took a moment for her to register that it was him, and then her face contorted with concern, then relief. 

“Gage! You’re up, thank goodness!” she pulled her legs in and set the guitar down on the balcony. She hauled herself up and Gage took a step back. She paused and tilted her head, remaining still. He couldn’t read the look on her face and it worried him. He was pretty sure she wouldn’t lash out the same way that Colter used to, but that wasn’t entirely comforting.

“Boss, I’m real fuckin’ sorry about last night, I, uh,” he couldn’t help the shake in his voice nor the shake in his hands. He hoped to god she didn’t notice, but honestly, there was no way she didn’t. The way her eyes were locked on him made him want to run. “I didn’t mean to lea-”

“It's ok,” she interrupted his apology. The way she looked at him didn’t initially set off the alarm bells in his head that he was going to get stabbed, but it was still suspicious. That was the last thing he expected out of her and it left him speechless. He just stared at her as she took a step forward. It was real slow and deliberate like she was afraid of spooking him. He stayed still as she got closer one step at a time. “It's ok. Russ explained who the woman was, why she was all over you, all of that stuff with the Disciples. You don’t have to apologize.” She smiled at him and he felt his heart skip a beat. There were so many things Russell could have shown the Boss, and none of it was okay. “I was wrong, it wasn’t your fault.”

“You did what now?” Gage asked as she got closer. This was not how he expected this to go. He’d have taken the anger or the disappointment over whatever weird thing this was. At least he knew how to deal with that. He flinched when she put her hands on his shoulders but it didn’t seem to deter her much. 

“It’s alright, love. I overreacted because William freaked me out. I should have taken a moment to ask why you weren’t being yourself,” Kincaid said softly as she looked down. “And I’m sorry.”

“Caid, you ain’t got anything to be sorry for!” The words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to apologize, to prostrate himself before her and face whatever punishment she’d decided on. She was not supposed to apologize to him, and she was not supposed to be worried about him. It wasn’t how anything was supposed to go and it rattled him to his core. “You were in danger and I wasn’t there, I failed at the one thing I was supp-”

“I’m not some delicate flower babe, I can take care of myself. I didn’t bring you just to watch my back, I brought you because you’re my friend.” Kincaid told him. She was worried, he could see it etched into her face. “I brought you because I enjoy your company.”

“Kincaid, I-” She stared up at him and he lost his train of thought. She was so god damn beautiful, even without her makeup and clad in just a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. He thought for a moment of just leaning in and kissing her, of confessing everything to her. He wanted to run away with her and start a little homestead somewhere that they could settle down with their caps and live and love comfortably. 

But it wasn’t meant to be. She would never feel the same way about him. And it was unfair to her. 

“I, uh,” he hated how he stumbled over his words and how his voice quivered. She tilted her head and he sucked a breath in through his teeth. “I found this and I, uh,” he bit his lip and shut his eye, holding out the white leather. 

“You think she’d like it?” his own voice with a layer of static, soft and quiet. Gage’s eye snapped open and the color drained from his face as he stared down the Eyebot just behind Kincaid. That was it. He was going to scrap it the first chance he got. If that little shit knew what was good for it, it’d keep its speaker turned off. It just stared him down right back with its protected visual array and it let out a series of beeps. 

Kincaid had turned to ED-E briefly, and then back to Gage. she looked down at the folded leather and took it from his hands. For a brief moment, her hands brushed against his and he shivered despite their warmth. He waited with bated breath as she examined the little bundle. 

“Is this?” she paused and let the clothes unfold. She let out a gentle gasp and looked up at Gage. “This is the Nuka-Girl costume, isn’t it? The one from the ride?” she asked as she looked up at him. He nodded and she smiled. He could have sworn he saw color rise to her cheeks. “Oh, Gage.”

“I thought you’d like it,” Gage said quietly. He licked his lips nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. “You’d mentioned you liked it and I thought,” he paused for a second and looked away from her, “I thought you’d enjoy it.” The way her face lit up made his heart pound in his chest. She held the white leather close to her chest and for a moment he was almost sure she as going to cry.

She didn’t though. Instead, she folded it neater than he had the patience or ability to and placed the jumpsuit on the counter with the helmet resting just so on top.

“Would you like me to take a look at your wound?” she asked when she turned back to him. She looked at him like he was the only person in the goddam world, and for just a moment he had completely forgotten about his side until he moved to look where she was looking and it stung like hell. The small wound wasn’t bleeding anymore, and it was more or less clean from the night before. He hadn’t been the most careful when he bandaged it, but it was barely more than a scratch, especially compared to what Nisha had done to him.

“Nah, it’s fine,” he said. Really, his head bothered him more than his side did, and the sunshine coming in through the big, open patio windows was not helping in the slightest. The fluorescent lights inside the Grille could hurt, but at least he could turn those off and not have to block any natural light sources when his migraines got particularly bad.

“How about some lunch then?” she offered. She didn’t give him time to say no, just wrapped her hand around his wrist and started to drag back into the grille. She led him into the kitchen; Gage just let her, following right behind her. “You have to be hungry. It’s been like a whole day since we ate.”

Much of the anxiety and anticipation he’d built up in preparation for his confrontation with Caid had already started to melt away, and he didn’t have the energy to argue too hard, even if he had wanted to. He was tired and hungry, and the dull ache that built up behind where his right eye should be was manageable now, but it had gotten a lot worse out on the patio. When Kincaid let go of his wrist, he settled on one of the stools and dumbly watched as she bustled around the kitchen. He felt bad for not helping, but every time he made even a cursory attempt to get up and do something, Caid waved him off and told him to sit and relax.

“Boss, just let me help,” he finally said. “It’s too weird, just watchin’ you. I’m supposed to be serving you, not the other way around.” Caid looked at him, away from the saucepan she had on the stove and he winced at the look in her eyes. Pity. He really didn’t want her pity.

“You could be a sweetheart and peel these tatos for me,” she asked. She pulled a small basket of fresh tatos from their pantry and set them on the counter in front of him. She’d clearly gone to the market sometime that day since he didn’t remember so many vegetables in the pantry. It was a token effort to find something for him to do since she usually never bothered to peel them before cooking. It made him feel less useless to have something to do with his hands, but some part of his pride was couldn’t be happy with it. He pulled out his boot knife and the first tato from the basket.

Kincaid turned back to him, her mouth open to say something, and she stopped. He had the knife to the skin of the mutated vegetable, but he hadn’t yet gotten a chance to actually cut into it. Her eyes went wide. She just stared at him for a second, and he could have sworn he saw her eye twitch. 

“Are you using your boot knife to peel our tatos, Gage?” she asked. “The tatos we plan on actually eating? With the knife you keep in your very dirty boots? That knife, Gage?”

“Yup.”

Kincaid sighed and pulled the pan off of the heat and put down the spoon in her hand. She walked over to him and gently pulled the knife and tato from his hands and placed them on the counter. He didn’t even protest, just watched her do it. 

“Porter, be honest with me. Are you trying to make me frustrated? Do you want me to be mad at you?” she asked. Her voice was softer than it had any right to be, but it still stung with how quickly she’d picked up on his issues.

“‘Course not, Boss. I wouldn’t-”

“I know what Colter did,” she told him. “I know how he treated you when he was angry. He did that every time he got angry, didn’t he?” Gage was going to kill Russell. The kid was going to die. 

“Yeah,” Gage admitted. He couldn’t bring himself to lie to her, especially not when she looked at him so soft like. She already knew, there was no denying it. He might need to have some words with Russell later about privacy, but maybe it was better this way. He didn’t think he could have ever told Kincaid what happened, but it was probably important that she knew. Caid wasn’t Colter, that much was clear as fucking glass. “Sometimes it wasn’t too bad, but it was pretty much the same every time.” Gage stared down at his knife on the counter. He didn’t want to see her look at him with pity again. He knew what her next question was, too. “It’s easier to deal with that. I can patch broken skin and ice a black eye. Can’t fix this though. Whatever, all this is.” Gage made a vague gesture with his hands and he heard her sigh softly. 

“There’s nothing for you to fix, love. I was wrong,” she told him, but he shook his head.

“First thing about being a raider- the boss is never wrong, Caid.” He knew it was hot bullshit, he’d said it enough times. The boss could be wrong all the time, they could be dumb and get everyone killed. They still didn’t do this. They didn’t admit to it, they didn’t try and make it better. They certainly never fucking apologized, not even to their second. They just didn’t do that. He’d certainly learned never to call a boss out on their bullshit though. That was how a raider died young, and Gage had learned early on how to stay alive as a raider.

She put a hand on the side of his face, and that startled him enough to look up into her eyes. There was no pity in her eyes, only soft care. He’d been so quick to avoid her gaze, but now he couldn’t look away. She rubbed her thumb softly up and down his cheek, still more or less smooth from when she’d shaved him the day before. The soft touch was almost too much, but it wasn’t overwhelming. It kept him grounded, kept his attention on her.

“Bullshit. But if you’re going to insist, let me be right when I say that I was the one who messed up,” she said. “I’m really sorry, Porter. I’m sorry that I spoke without thinking, and I’m sorry you were treated that way. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m never going to hurt you, not if I can help it.” Her hand dropped from his face and he wasn’t sure if he should, if he could look away. He didn’t want to and she didn’t look away either.

Kincaid gave him no warning before wrapping her arms around him. He froze in place as she squeezed him tight around his shoulders. When he didn’t reciprocate right away she just pulled him closer, held him tighter, and rested her head on his shoulder.

For a moment he was afraid. She had said he wasn’t in trouble, but all of his instincts screamed otherwise. For all he knew, she could have been lying. Maybe it was a ploy to get close and to plant a knife deep in his back, to shiv him or gut him or, or, something. Gage didn’t know, all he knew was that the breath was taken right out of his lungs and for a moment it was like he couldn’t breathe. She was warm, though, a sort of warmth that lulled you into sleep in the spring. It was so conflicting, the comfort and the fear, but that just fit Caid all the better.

“Gage,” he barely heard her at first, but as she spoke she seemed to gain some confidence. “This is a hug okay?” It was like time stopped for Gage. “When you hug somebody you care about them, and you want them to know." She gave him another squeeze. “And I care about you, and I need you to know that okay?”

If he couldn’t have her as a lover, he was just fine with just being her friend. That was good enough, more than good enough, and it was more than he deserved. He was lucky to know someone like her. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. 

He didn’t deserve her in the slightest.


	20. Terrible Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: there's a fair bit of graphic imagery associated with the bloodworms. If that sort of thing bothers you, it might be worth skipping the next two to three chapters. We'll leave warnings on further chapters as necessary. Thank you!

So this was their new normal. 

Monday was the day they would scope out their agenda for the week. He’d take stock of their food, water, ammo, the works. She’d set up her game plan on how much they were going to get done as far as Nuka-Town went. She was also working on the renovations for the market and establishing ties with the gangs.

This included the Disciples. Gage was more than a little frustrated that she went without him, but he remained behind after she shot him a look. It was a mix of pity and concern and it rubbed Gage the wrong way. It was damn near insulting, as far as Gage was concerned. But... she was worried. She was worried about him.

The end of the week was reserved for exploring outside of Nuka-Town. They worked on establishing a safe route to and from Nuka-Galaxy, and from Nuka-Galaxy towards Dry Rock. A good number of Operators had started doing regular patrols outside of Nuka-Galaxy, and that seemed to keep pests from moving into the now empty park. They hadn’t made it to the second park just yet, but things were going well. 

They had forward progress, and that was more than Gage could have claimed before. 

Weekends were interesting, as those were the days Kincaid took for herself. They were the days where she’d dress up and prepare picnics and other weird shit like that. She’d go out on the slowly growing lawn in the courtyard and sit on a big blanket, eating tiny sandwiches and drinking lukewarm cola. She was starting to get a little following, too. It didn’t sit well with Porter, but he couldn’t very well stop her from interacting with the grunts. She’d sit down on her blanket and pat it, urging Gage to sit with her. Within minutes, she’d be distributing little sandwich boxes that she made to raiders who’d wander over from their jobs to have lunch with the boss. It started with an Operator or two, then a few Pack animals would wander over. The next thing Gage knew, Kincaid would keep about a hundred little lunch boxes and he’d be in a thick of raiders waiting in a queue to get lunch. He’d never seen so many raiders so quiet in his life. If they picked fights, they didn’t get their lunch box. It was an incentive to play nice. That worked far better then Gage thought it ought to have. In the evening, she had taken to crawling up onto the patio roof to stargaze.

Sometimes, she’d invite him to come with her. He enjoyed that a lot. 

Sometimes she’d also bring those tiny sandwiches, just for the two of them. He also enjoyed that a lot. He honestly liked watching her more than he liked looking at the stars and he enjoyed the stories she would tell him about the constellations. 

“The stars were the first thing I noticed after I got shot.” She’d tapped her forehead when he looked over at her. “I was free for the first time in my life, and all I wanted to do was sit and stare at the stars.”  
He didn’t know what she meant by free, but he understood the sentiment. The stars were important to her, and so they became important for him.

“Gage?” Kincaid asked, and Gage snapping to attention. They were on the beaten path towards Dry Rock Gulch. He glanced at her curiously.

“Lost you there for a second,” she said with a smile. She tilted her head at him and his heart fluttered like a fucking trapped canary. 

“Uh, sorry, boss. Got a lot to think about.” He mumbled as he dug around in his pockets for his cigs. He lit one as they were walking and listened to her chatter on about bugs in the Mojave. 

“Gage, you would hate cazadores. You’d hate them with your entire being,” Kincaid told him as they walked. “They’re big bug bastards who shoot you up full of venom that makes you all loopy and shit. Me and Niner would go out and get ourselves stung for fun and then we’d go back over to Boone and get him to give us the antidote.”

Gage looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. Of course she’d go piss off the wildlife for a high. He expected no less, considering what she’d told him of her time as a courier. It was wild, but Gage liked to think that nothing she’d say could surprise him anymore. He was wrong, she always seemed to find little things that caught him off guard, but he liked to think it. 

He wiped the sweat from his brow and grumbled. “Christ, it’s fuckin’ hot,” he growled. Kincaid chuckled to herself, causing Gage to look back at her in annoyance. How in the goddamn hell was she walking around in all that black leather? She had to be in three or four layers of fabric at least. 

“What, you enjoy my sufferin’ or somethin’?” he deadpanned before instantly regretting what he said. Kincaid looked back at him with a soft expression that made him feel oh so small and uncomfortable.

“No,” she said quietly. “I was just thinkin’...” 

She perked up and looked at him with a wide smile. “If you think it’s hot here, you would never like the Mojave. It’s as hot as Satan’s ball sack, all god damn year around, love.” 

Gage nodded in acknowledgment and looked away awkwardly. It was a few moments of silence before Gage piped up again.

“Well you’re not gonn’ want to piss off the blood worms too bad. Those fuckers will spit their eggs into your wounds.” Gage watched her wince before focusing back on his cig. “Seen otherwise promising raiders come back from Dry Rock like zombies, shambling over, all filled up with spawn like some sort of horror holo. The Operators always would shoot them down before they got close to town, don’t need that shit spreading like an STI in the Zoo.” 

Kincaid looked at Gage in horror. 

“But... what if they were still alive?” she asked quietly. 

“Then it was a mercy, boss,” Gage told her plainly. “Usually, the raiders would end up splitting like an overfilled paper sack in the middle of the church picnic, and larvae and shit would scuttle out and away. Gross shit. Real fucking gross shit.”

Kincaid shuddered and Gage watched her pull her pistols from her bandolier. Smart woman. She checked to make sure they were both full before pausing. Gage stopped too, waiting for her. 

“You’ve gone to church?” she asked with her eyes narrowed, he could see the cogs working in her head as she parsed this new information. Gage let out a bark of a laugh and shook his head. 

“‘Course that’s what you take outta that, isn’t it?” Gage asked as he took a drag on his cig. “Yeah. Grew up in a settlement. Told you that.” Gage motioned to the road and kept walking as Kincaid jogged to keep up. 

“Yeah, but you didn’t give me any details. I feel like you know so much about me, but I ain’t know shit about you.” Kincaid kept step with him and tucked her smaller revolver in her holster.

“I know you ain’t from the ‘Wealth, and you ain’t from out west,” she spun her BFR in her hand, watching it twirl. “But you ain’t gave me no more than that to go on.”

“Don’t need more than that,” Gage told her as he shielded his eye from the glaring sun. They were less than a mile from Dry Rock Gulch. They’d need to start worrying about bloodworms soon. 

He felt the rumble then, as Kincaid was prattling on about something not important. He looked down and then shoved Kincaid hard to the side as he took a step back. He heard a snarl from her before a gentle gasp as a massive worm erupted out of the ground before them. It was pale and covered in spines, and its needle-like teeth were frantically grasping at them, like a little drill that really wanted to drill its way into their chest cavities. 

God, Gage hated bugs.

“The fuck is that thing!?” Kincaid screeched. Gage could hear the panic in her voice. 

“Bloodworm!” Gage grit out as he shot at it with his rifle. He winced at the sickening squelch as it hit the ground and thrashed around. It sprayed the both of them with its blood as he and Kincaid filled it with lead. She only stopped shooting when it had finally gone still. 

“Jesus Christ, Mary, Joseph, whatever the fuck,” Kincaid whispered as she kicked the corpse. “It’s fucking six feet long!” 

She looked up at Gage with a hilarious look of horror. Well, it was hilarious to him, anyway. He knew better than to laugh, but he couldn’t repress the snort. “It’s six feet of teeth fucking hell.” she continued to talk as she performed an examination on the critter. 

Kincaid crouched down and looked into its open mouth. “You sure you want this park? I think it’s fine. It's good. We could just... leave it.” Kincaid looked back up at him with an almost pleading look. 

“No can do. Every park not in our control is a threat,” Gage said sternly as he ground out his fallen cig. So much for that, he s’posed. He lifted his rifle as she stood up. She had a look of dread on her face as she looked towards the park. There was movement. They could both see it. 

With the worms, though, it wasn’t likely ferals. 

Kincaid pulled a pair of binoculars from her coat and squinted through them. “Looks...” she paused, her lip curling. “I... what the fuck is that?” 

She looked over at Gage as she handed over the tool. He looked through and spotted a shambling corpse. It was just that. The larvae and shit were piloting around the corpse of some poor trader that had probably tried to escape Colter’s wrath. He handed back over the binoculars wordlessly and aimed down his rifle. He squeezed off a shot and Kincaid looked back to the shambling corpse. 

It popped.

Like a balloon, but instead of water or air, it was filled to the brim with wiggling larvae. Gage thought Kincaid was going to vomit from the noise she made. He lowered his gun, letting out a huff. He took point, since Kincaid was too busy hurling her lunch onto the pavement. 

“Stay on the asphalt. They can’t burrow through it.” Gage said, his voice just above a whisper. “Have to keep quiet. Those bastards can pick up vibrations from underground.” 

She nodded as she wiped the back of her mouth with her hand. “How are you so calm?” She asked, her voice going shrill and very much not quiet. 

If he didn’t know better, he’d think she couldn’t be quiet. But he did know better, and he fixed her with a glare. She shrank back and narrowed her eyes. 

“I grew up on a farm in Virginia. We had to deal with these things getting into our herds,” Gage told her as he watched the ground just beyond the pavement. It would get them up to the park, but once they were inside, they were fucked. 

He couldn’t for the life of him remember what his grandparents would do to get rid of bloodworm infestations. There was a cure, he knew that much. It wasn’t just bullets, that would be a waste of resources. He paused and Kincaid bumped into his back. Gage stumbled forward and hissed in pain as the metal of his armor, heated up from the hot summer sun, burned the skin on his chest, back, and shoulders. He looked back at her angrily, but his gaze quickly softened when he saw her face. She looked terrified. 

Legitimately terrified. 

He’d seen her come nose to nose with a deathclaw - quite literally - and show less fear. Gage wanted to laugh, he really, really did. They were just bugs, bugs that could be squashed just like any other insect. He’d grown up poking their corpses with sticks and watching his nan drag them out of the field by their tails to toss them on foul smelling bonfires. He didn’t laugh, though. Had enough sense in his head not to. 

“Boss, do you want to go back?” he asked softly. She stared up at him, and for a moment, he was sure she was going to say yes. She was practically jumping at her own shadow, and pressing up against him. She was god awful close, so close he could feel the heat radiating off of her.

Not to mention all that black leather burning him where she touched him.

“Caid.” Gage said sternly. She jumped, and her eyes focused on him again. “Do you want to go back to Fizztop? We can figure out some other way to deal with these things. I can talk to Shank, or-”

“No, we need to know what we’re dealing with here,” Kincaid said with a soft trembling voice. Just as Gage was about to respond Kincaid stepped into a pothole in the road, letting out a little yelp. A yelp that quickly turned into a scream of pain as a bloodworm burrowed out of the exposed dirt.

It grabbed her by the leg and Gage dove, grabbing her arms as she was pulled down into the hole. The bloodworm pulled her down, and Gage grabbed her hand before she was pulled in. She clawed up his arms, scrambling and fighting as she sank inch by inch into the dirt. The ground started to rumble and Gage pulled with all his strength. They were about to be fucked.

Not a nice fucked either. This was no set of lovers in the moonlight, all gentle caresses and soft sighs. This was with a chainsaw. Sideways. With no lube. 

He got his boots under him and pulled, managing to get Kincaid up about an inch. Her face was full of terror, tears streaming down it. He could feel the muscles in his back straining, and he knew full well he would get exhausted much faster than the fucking worm. 

“Gage, don’t let go!” she begged as one of her hands firmly grasped the center bar of the chest piece of his armor. He let out a snarl in response and straightened his legs, hoping that, if he could get gravity on his side and fall back with her, it would be enough the break the worm’s grip.

“I ain’t gonna let go!” he shouted as he felt his boots skid. He was fighting a losing battle, he knew it, Kincaid knew it. The worm probably knew it, too, if it had a brain. Gage looked to his left and he felt his blood run cold. They were coming, the first wave of bloodworms had made it onto the pavement and were wriggling towards him. Kincaid saw them too, and when he looked back at her the look on her face broke his heart.

She looked back at him, staring into his eyes. “Don’t you fucking dare!” Gage growled and tugged on her again and tightened his grip on her coat. “Don’t you fucking-”

She let go. She let go and slipped right out of her coat. Gage fell backward on his ass as she was pulled underground. No more screaming, no more begging, she was silent and it haunted him. 

He didn’t have time to dwell, though, as the swarm descended on him. He grabbed his rifle and just prayed the spray didn’t ricochet back at him. He laid down a wave of fire before backing up towards the burrow. There was still a chance she was still alive, if he could kill these things fast enough, he could try and go after her. 

He couldn’t lose her. Not like this.

At the smell of their own blood, the worms went into a frenzy, attacking each other as much as they tried to get at him. It was enough to give him the split second he needed to get back on his feet. He had to save Kincaid. That mattered more than anything as he put bullet after bullet into any worm that moved. He didn’t even think about anything except ending the little fuckers until the last one stopped twitching. He finally had a moment to breathe, just a moment, before he turned towards where Caid had been dragged underground.

And that was when the panic really set in.

The tunnels the bloodworms made for themselves tended to collapse behind them as they dug their way through the dirt. Even if he could find a way to find the tunnel underground, it would be nearly impossible to tell what direction the bastard went in. Jesus Christ, the Boss was going to die. Kincaid was going to die and it was all his fault. He should have been paying better attention, and not let them be caught unawares. He should have insisted they turn around and go right back to Fizztop so they could find a better way to deal with this. Bloodworms were harmless in small groups but like this? In a who-knows-how-big nest like Dry Rock?

Gage could feel his lunch starting to come back up. And he’d wanted to laugh at her. 

He sat back on his calves and rubbed the scratches Kincaid had left up his arms. He couldn’t breathe. The air had gone from uncomfortably hot to searing his throat. The stink from the worm carcasses cooking on the pavement around him was damn near unbearable. The bright sun overhead did him no favors either, making the landscape shimmer around him. The light reflecting off the sand made his eye burn. He looked around and spotted where Kincaid’s duster had hit the pavement, splayed out like a dead body. 

It was as close as he was going to get, anyways.

He got up and moved over to the heavy leather oil duster. He picked it up gingerly and swallowed down the wave of bile. 

He couldn’t go back to Fizztop. If he came back without the boss, if he came back and told them the boss was dead, he was sure he’d be strung up. Nisha would have her way with him, eviscerating him for her own entertainment.

He could probably make it around Nuka world and make it to the tram if he waited until sunset. He didn’t want to leave, and he didn’t want to abandon Russell and ED-E. Well, Russell at least, but he wasn’t about to die, either. He wasn’t about to let sentiment get him under Nisha’s knife. He glanced around at the silent landscape. 

He could find a comm station, one of the tunnels. Find a way to contact Russell, it would make his escape easier. If he could get out of dodge-

It didn’t help the ice in his guts, though, no matter how many contingencies he could think of. No matter how many ways he could get away and vanish to the wind. 

Kincaid was dead. 

Kincaid was dead and it was his fault. She’d died terrified and alone, chewed on by bloodworms in their den. Gage sank back down to his knees and frantically wiped at his face. He couldn’t stop the tears running down his face, streaking through the dirt. He lifted his patch and rubbed frantically. Crying helped no one, but he couldn’t stop it. He couldn’t stop the wheezing, nor could he stop his shoulders from spasming.

He just about came out of his skin when a hand shot out of the dirt. For a moment he stared at it dumbly. It was a hand, coming out of the dirt in the pothole. It was scrambling and clawing for purchase. 

Then his brain kick-started, like an electric shock right to his chest. He dove for the hand and grabbed it, frantic to pull it out of the dirt. He pulled and another hand shot out, pulling at the soft earth. 

Kincaid emerged from the ground with a gasp. Gage let go of her arms to get a hold around her chest before pulling her up. The earth seemed to protest at their struggles, but this time, Gage got the upper hand. It gave her up rather suddenly, causing him to stumble back and for them both to fall against the now sticky pavement. 

She knocked the wind out of him when she landed, and her face hit the bars of his armor. But she was alive. She was alive and on top of him and breathing, and Gage didn’t have to abandon everything the two of them had worked so hard for. He almost pulled her close and kissed her. 

Almost. 

He settled for squeezing her tight against him instead. She groaned and she had blood dripping from her nose. It didn’t look too broken from the impact, not knocked to the side or nothing. She looked dazed for a moment as she touched her nose, but then she looked down at him and Gage never wanted her to look away. 

“Miss me?” she asked, a smile spreading across her face. He couldn’t help it, that silly lopsided smile, the adrenaline running through him, everything came up in a loud barking laugh that shook him to the core. He laughed so hard his chest hurt and pulled her close again. He didn’t care of her blood dripped on him, stained his favorite tank top. It was stained anyway. 

She was alive and that was what mattered. 

She pulled away and sat back on his legs. He just laid there, back against the pavement, and stared up at the sky.

She was alive.

“Gage?” she asked softly. He lifted his head to look at her and he just flashed a smile. 

“Yeah, boss?” he asked, pushing himself up to sit. She touched his cheek and he flinched. It didn’t stop her though, she just wiped away the tears that remained on his face.

“Were you crying over little ol’ me?” she asked with a cheeky head tilt, and Gage just stared at her. He had been. There was no denying it, not if he was honest. But he wasn’t honest. He was a raider. He was a raider and he had an image to keep. That image was not some fool, lovesick over a lesbian who would never care about him the same way.

“The sun’s bright on the sand.” Gage muttered lamely, looking away. He had expected her to laugh, or call him out on his white lie. Instead, she just dropped her hand and let out a little sigh. She went to get up but the moment she put weight on her left leg she dropped, hard. Gage shoved himself up and was right at her side as she hissed in pain. She stuck her leg out and he saw her eyes go wide. It was like she lost all the blood in her face as she stared unblinkingly at the little squirming shapes in the meat of her calf. 

“gaGE!” her voice cracked, and he moved to her leg. He had his boot knife out before she could object. He’d done this before, hundreds of times on different farm animals. Hell, he’d done this on his own leg, back when he was a kid. His mom hadn’t been too happy with him. Said he shoulda waited for his nan, like the other times he’d been bit, but he’d gotten them all out.

He could do the same for Caid.

She let out a little gasp when he started, her eyes never leaving her leg. He held her twitching limb tight and started in on the largest of the larvae. He squeezed the flesh around where the larvae’s head was, forcing it to pop halfway out. Kincaid stared in a mix of horror and fascination. He then grabbed it and pulled it out before tossing it onto the dry, hot pavement. It let out a pathetic squeal as it frantically wriggled and flailed on the asphalt, but it wasn’t long before its skin dried out and it lay still. He did the same to the others, one by one, and took great satisfaction in watching them burn to death in the heat of the sun. He hoped his grip wasn’t too tight on Caid’s leg, though He didn’t want to hurt her any more than she already was. 

He double checked the wound, making sure there weren’t any more in the ravaged flesh of her calf. Even then, he couldn’t be sure they were all out. He glanced up at Kincaid’s face. She was looking towards the shriveled up corpses of the larvae curiously.

“Is-” she started, her voice trailing off. “Is it bad I want to know how that tastes?”

Gage’s eye widened in shock and his face contorted into a look of disgust. 

It took him a moment to wrap his brain around it before he could respond. “Yeah. Yeah, I think it is,” he said after a moment. There was a brief pause before he spoke again. “Do you feel any more in there?” 

She hummed and wriggled her leg a little. Her face twisted in pain, but she shook her head. 

“I don’t think so. I think you-” 

Her voice warped into a yelp of pain, and Gage could feel something wriggling under his hand, within the flesh of her leg, almost at her ankle. Gage panicked and held her leg tighter, but it only made her yell out in pain louder than before. He felt a surge of guilt overcome him for a moment, but instinct took over even more forcefully. He needed to keep her still so he didn’t hurt her more. The bastard had gone too far from the initial wound, so he’d have to cut into her again so he could get it out. He grabbed his boot knife and made a cut near where he thought the bastard’s head was. He must’ve been right, seeing as how it came bursting out of the cut like a bat out of hell. He didn’t even need to pull that one out - it just wriggled out on its own. It landed on Gage’s lap and tried desperately to burrow through Gage’s pants, but he was quicker. He gingerly stabbed it with his knife, taking care not to stab himself in the process, before flicking the little worm off the tip of the blade, into the rest of the pile. 

“Nice try, asshole. You ain’t gettin’ in my pants that easy,” he said triumphantly. He glanced at Kincaid, who was looking at him with a curious expression. It was then he realized he had said that out loud, and he couldn’t help but feel the heat rising up his cheeks. 

“Well, uh,” he stumbled over his words. “We oughtta get out of here. I don’t how many of those chucklefucks are in you yet, and I don’t wanna run around ‘til we find out the hard way. You get what I’m sayin’?” 

“We should go to the Pack,” Kincaid said after a moment, with a nod of her head. 

“What? Why not ‘Kenzie?” 

“They deal with animals, right? They’ll know what to do with these parasites better than Mack would.” 

Gage leaned back for a moment in thought. 

“S’pose you’re right,” he said with a nod as he stood back up. He dusted off his pants and surveyed his surrounding as he put his boot knife away. Aside from the shriveling corpses of the bloodworms’ mangled bodies dotting the streets, the coast looked clear. Hopefully, it stayed that way. 

He looked back to Kincaid, who had a hand held up for him to pull. She was looking up at him with weirdly big eyes that made him feel weird. He wasn’t sure how he liked that, but it wasn’t the time to be contemplating looks. They had to get the hell out of there. 

She knew she wasn’t gonna walk. And it sure as hell wasn’t like he was gonna let her do it, anyway. He pulled her up, watching her wince as she rose, before hefting her up, bridal style. God, she was fuckin heavy. But he couldn’t let that get to him. He needed to get her safe.

For both her sake, and for his. 

He started forward on the pavement, still taking care to make sure his steps were quiet as not to disturb any of the other fine residents of Dry Rock Gulch

“Gage, Gage. I can just lean on you? You don’t have to carry me the whole way,” Kincaid murmured as she clung to him, staring up at his face. He ignored her and continued to walk.

“Gage, please,” she pleaded. “I can walk! It’s fine!” 

“Ain’t happenin’, boss,” he whispered sternly as they made it away from the gates. “If you start walkin’, God knows what tendons ‘n’ shit are gonna give way. Not to mention, movin’ around with worms in your legs ain’t exactly a pleasant experience.” 

He gazed down at her. “So you’re gettin’ carried. End of discussion.” 

Kincaid looked up at him with an almost childish pout but said nothing as they continued their way down the road. 

“You’re gonna blow out your back like this,” Caid said after a few minutes of silence. 

Gage glared at her. “I don’t give two fucks.” 

“You know I’m heavier than I look,” Caid said with a lilt in her voice. 

Gage frowned. “Are you tryin’ to convince me to let you lose your damned leg? Because it ain’t happenin’. I don’t care if you’re heavy, you need to get this shit checked out without blowing out your entire fuckin’ limb.” 

He didn’t mean to come off as angry as he thought he did, but if the look wide-eyed stare from Kincaid said anything, he did. He very much did. He sighed in exasperation. Of course, he had to go and make her worried. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing. It made her compliant for the time being, he supposed- 

His thoughts came to a sudden halt as a flash of bright colors made their way onto the road ahead of him. He couldn’t make out whatever it was from the haze of the heat coming off the pavement, but it looked like it was coming towards him. Shit. 

He carefully but quickly hauled Caid behind some rocks and brush by the roadside before laying her on the ground. She sat up and looked around worriedly. 

“What’d you see?” she asked quietly. Gage shook his head as he grabbed for his rifle. Caid grabbed for her BFR.

“I don’t know, but it was awful flashy lookin’.” 

They stayed there in tense silence, watching the blues, greens, oranges, and pinks wave and whirl in the haze, growing larger as it got closer. They both grew more and more tense, and Gage was racking his mind as he tried to figure out what it was. 

Could it be one of them painted ghouls from Kiddie Kingdom? He’d seen some of them wander out of there, and onto the roads. Maybe some kind of weirdly painted robot? God, he hoped it wasn’t. He’s sick of robots. 

It couldn’t have been an animal, though. No animal could be that- 

Animals… bright colors… 

The Pack!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After last weeks wump, we have some fluff, some angst, some progress. We’re four months in now, and to think. I thought I was going to end up with a matchstick romance lmfao. 100k later and gage is still all twitterpated


	21. Dinner & Diatribes

“Just chop it off.”

Gage pulled his hand down his face and shook his head. Of course. Of course, she’d go straight to that. He’d already gotten the worst of it, but the Pack member who was helping her had wanted to check the wound before cleaning it. They were tucked away in the back of the Zoo, in a little makeshift vet clinic, so far as Gage could tell. The Pack Animals they’d run into on the road had taken them back to Nuka-Town on their ATV. They had been out to hunt a deathclaw that was apparently in the area, and for once Gage didn’t have to remind Caid that specifically seeking out deathclaws was an unnecessary risk.

“Do it! Just chop it off Gage! I got two legs. I can live without one!”

“Boss, it’s just eggs. They’re already all almost out,” Gage said with a twinge of annoyance layering into his voice. He understood the sentiment since, hell, he wouldn’t want bloodworm eggs in his leg either, didn’t mean she needed to chop her leg off though. He might have to amputate his arm though if she gripped it any tighter. Her nails had cut thick welts down his forearms, and now they were stabbing into the flesh of his bicep. He wouldn’t be surprised if he were bleeding, but he had to focus on keeping Caid calm through this.

“Actually, I’m all done. I just need to clean it before I hit it with a stim,” the girl with green hair told them, but Kincaid was long passed listening.

“Chop off my leg! Just do it, Gage! Pull the fucking trigger!” Kincaid had her eyes shut tight and if Gage didn’t keep her still by forcibly holding down her thigh with his hand, she would have pulled her leg away. She’d come face to face with a fucking deathclaw with less dramatics then this. Gage could feel his annoyance with Kincaid’s antics starting to boil as the little Pack woman went about cleaning and stitching up the wound. He decided to focus on that instead of Kincaid’s nails ripping into his flesh. There was nothing wrong with her, really, but it was easier if he had someone to blame, and he certainly wasn’t going to blame the boss. That is, until Kincaid’s grip slipped and she took flesh with it. He could feel the small drip of blood already, and that was the straw that broke the radstag’s back.

That was it.

Gage was done. He was like a brahmin steak left for too damn long in the pan. Stick a fork in him, he was done. “Caid, I swear to fucking Jesus Christ if you don’t shut up I will shoot you my-fucking-self!” Kincaid’s mouth snapped shut and the little Pack Animal just stared at Gage in horror. 

“Aw,” Kincaid started, staring Gage down. His nostrils flared and he fixed her with a glare. A big smile spread across her face and she leaned forward. He could feel her breath on his face. “You’ve given me a nickname. You do care.” 

“I will shoot you my-damn-self!” he repeated for extra emphasis, and Kincaid giggled. At least she wasn’t begging him to chop off her leg now. The Pack animal was looking between them like a kid who caught her parents fighting.

“The wound’s dressed for a stim now. Are you ready for it?” she asked softly, holding the poised stim over Kincaid’s leg. “Don’t wanna just stab you with it, Boss. Makes the healing feel weird.”

“Just fuckin’ do it. She deserves it for all the fucking fuss she’s made,” Gage growled as he adjusted his grip on her thigh. Kincaid gasped in mock horror, complete with the dramatic hand on her chest. 

“Porter Gage! Advocating for stabbing the boss? Say it ain’t so!” Kincaid gasped as Gage grumbled. He motioned for the Pack Animal to get on with it as Kincaid giggled to herself. She thought she was so fucking clever. All Gage wanted to do was stick a fucking gag in her mouth at this point. The girl grabbed a couple of stimpaks from their sizable supply and injected the first one into Kincaid’s leg, right above the first wound, and the second one just above the cut he’d made to get the last bastard out when they were still outside Dry Rock.

“You should be okay. It wasn’t a bad bite, as bloodworm bites go,” the Pack Animal said. “Get something to eat as soon as you’re able and try to take it easy for the rest of the day. Maybe tomorrow too if you can manage to sit still that long.”

“She fucking better,” Gage hissed as Kincaid laughed. 

“Oh girl, you got my number,” Kincaid tittered, patting Porter’s bloodied arm.

“Do you want a stim for that too?” the girl asked Gage, but he shook his head. It was one thing for Kincaid to ask for medical attention from the Pack, but a wholly different thing for Porter Gage to ask for medical attention. It wouldn’t be worth the cost in the end, it never was.

“Yes, he would. I tore him all to shit.” Kincaid answered as she grabbed him by the bicep and yanked him off balance into the chair next to her. He fell into it with a gentle ‘oof’ and a wince. Kincaid twisted and grabbed his wrist, yanking his arm forward. “Motherfucker needs a stim. Give him a stim.” 

“Boss-” Gage tried, but Kincaid didn’t give him an inch of room to argue.

“Don’t you boss me. This is on me, I’m the one who decided to keep going, I’m the one who made a ton of noise, I’m the one who turned your forearms into shredded cheese,” Kincaid motioned to the Pack Animal with her free hand. “And I’m the one who just carved your arm up.” 

The Pack Animal had surprisingly soft hands for a raider. They weren’t cold like Mackenzie’s hands, and she was very gentle as she dabbed at the wounds with whatever it was she was using to clean it. When Kincaid was sure he wasn’t going to run she let his arm go, and motioned for him to let the little raider clean his other arm. 

Gage winced as the stim went in and the burning sensation crawled through his veins. He’d never get used to it. His flesh knit together neatly and the Pack Animal smiled at her handiwork. No scarring, for once in Gage’s life. He looked over his healed over arms and couldn’t help rubbing his thumb over where the welts had been. 

“Sierra, right?” Kincaid asked. “You said that was your name, I think.” The Pack Animal nodded and Kincaid smiled softly. “Remind me in a day or two to set you up with Mackenzie, she could use an assistant and you are one hell of a field medic.” 

She just shrugged. “I’m not that good at it. I mostly just work on the animals. Humans are more complicated than a mongrel.”

“That’s what practice is for, love,” Kincaid told her with a gentle pat on the hand. Gage got up and Kincaid turned to him. “I need to talk to Mason. We gotta get something to clean out those little shit machines in Dry Rock. I sure as fuck ain’t going back without something like,” she paused, scratching her head. “Fire. Or something. Flamers probably. You think Mason has flamers?” Kincaid asked, reaching for Gage. 

He almost didn’t think about how quickly he bent down so she could use him as leverage to stand on her good leg. She kept her arm wrapped around his neck, holding onto him for balance. He absolutely didn’t think about how much he liked the contact, small and simple as it was. He was just doing what he could to support the boss, nothing more, nothing less. He helped her towards the main amphitheater where Mason had his throne set up on the stage like the tool he was.

And of course, the tool was lounging around like a big fucking house cat in a patch of sun, like he didn’t know how to sit in a fucking chair. One of his legs was over one of the arms, one of his arms was draped over the side. And the whole picture was complete with a well-timed scratch at his crotch as Kincaid and Gage hobbled up to the dais. 

“Heard you got chewed up by those bloodsuckers,” Mason said with too much of a laugh for Gage’s liking. “You get patched up good Boss-Lady?”

“No more passengers, at least, I ain’t fucking ready to be a mother,” Kincaid said. “So I think I got a plan to deal with those fuckers. So, hear me out before you say no, but I’m thinking Flamers.”

“No.”

“But fire is a great way to make sure that we hurt them, and no one has to have parasites removed from body parts. It’s a win-win as far as I’m concerned.” Kincaid looked over her nails on her free hand as she leaned into Porter. Gage grunted and stood straight. Why didn’t he give her a crutch? He should have just found her crutch. But no, here he was. Stuck. It's like he enjoyed making himself miserable.

“Fire is also a good way to make that territory, made of mostly wood mind you, completely uninhabitable.” Mason pointed out as he picked at his teeth. When the fuck did the savage learn words like “uninhabitable”? Gage cocked an eyebrow and stared at Mason. “Besides Boss-Lady, fire only works for the ones on the surface. For those fuckers in the burrows? You want molerats.” 

“Molerats?”

“Molerats,” Mason repeated as he swung his legs over. “They eat those worms for breakfast. They fight over territory all the time, and molerats always come out on top.” 

“Pun intended?” Kincaid asked as she made a finger gun at Mason. “See, its funny because molerats dig underground.” The Pack Alpha stared at her and a slow smile crept across his face. 

“Sure boss,” he told her with a nod. “A question though, wasn’t Dry Rock supposed to go to the Disciples?” 

“It was, and then they declined to help at all, so it goes to the next gang in the rotation. Which would be Pack, if you didn’t know,” Kincaid said all casually as Gage stared at her in horror. When did they decline? He had no idea they had declined to send help to get the parks. What the fuck was Nisha thinking? He expected that both gangs would be happy to send a few gang members to ensure the territory was guaranteed to be theirs after Kincaid had all but promised Nuka-Galaxy to Mags when Daniels and his crew helped. 

The whole situation made his blood run cold. 

“Alright. We’ll help,” Mason told Kincaid as he leaned forward. Gage resisted the urge to snort. There was no way in hell that Mason would let this opportunity slip through his meaty fingers, but Mason’s tone sounded like he was doing her the favor by sending in his underlings.

“So, the Flamers-”

“No Flamers, Boss-Lady,” Mason reminded her. Kincaid pouted but didn’t argue. Gage held back a sigh. Now Kincaid would be pouty until she got to play with a Flamer, and he’d have to source one and find a place for her to use it that wouldn’t burn down all of Nuka-World. They had yet to circle back to that old horror mansion on the outskirts of Nuka’s land. That sounded like a good target for fire. Even if all the signs saying it was haunted were all lying to sell tickets, they’d be doing the world a favor by burning it down. Not that he believed in ghosts at all, of course, but his mama had taught him not to fuck with things he didn’t understand.

“Not to interrupt, but the Boss needs to get something to eat. She got two stims for her leg.” Gage said, more for Kincaid’s benefit than anyone else’s. If she got tunnel vision on the next part of their plan, there’s a good chance she would forget to eat entirely until she ran out of steam.

“Oh, right, food,” Kincaid said. “I really want a snack cake. Like really bad.”

Mason stopped lounging and stood up, all in the same, smooth motion and once again, Gage was reminded of a cat. He gestured for Kincaid to follow but it wasn’t like she was going anywhere without Gage. “Come on you two, let’s get some food in you and then I’ll show you my old lady.” 

“That better not be his dick,” Gage grumbled quietly as the two of them hobbled along behind Mason. Kincaid slapped his chest with a snort. 

“I’m sure it’s not his dick. It's probably his molerat.” Kincaid waved Gage off as Mason led them to the Pack’s mess hall. It was a large cage with a massive fire pit in the middle and a lot of cooking meats. 

“You know molerat is a euphemism, right? Where I’m from, that’s how kids talk about their junk without gettin’ in trouble for sayin’ shit like penis or twat and shit.” Gage heard Mason snort ahead of them, the alpha barely keeping his composure as he ordered around some runts to fetch the Overboss something to eat. Gage led Kincaid over to a large table and helped her sit down. He made sure she was comfortable before sitting down himself. A couple of Pack Rats brought over plates of some kind of meat and some sort of mashed vegetable, setting the plates in front of Kincaid. She shoved one of the plates in front of Gage, fixing him with a glare when he went to push it away. He didn’t want to owe the gangs anything. He just couldn’t afford to until he’d pulled his share outta the treasury.

And he just hadn’t had time to finish the books. 

Kincaid motioned to the plate again, breaking Gage out of his thoughts. He awkwardly sat there with a plate of meat ahead of him, still debating whether or not he should start eating.. 

“Your timing is impeccable, Boss,” Mason finally said as Kincaid practically started to inhale her food. “My queen mole rat brooded a couple weeks ago, and they should be ready to start takin’ on the world in a few days. And ain’t nothing hungrier than a brood of baby molerats.” 

Kincaid and Mason began to go back and forth about what it’s like to have a molerat as a pet. Gage wasn’t particularly interested, and instead turned to the roasted meat and vegetables on his plate. He hadn’t eaten much of anything that day, other than a quick breakfast Caid had made before they set off to scout out the Gulch. He warred with himself for a little while longer, debating whether or not he wanted to owe something to the Pack, but the smell of the food and the hunger scratching at his innards made the decision for him. 

The Pack might be a bunch of savages, but they made some damn good food. 

As he began to dig into his steak, Kincaid glanced in his direction and smiled softly when she noticed he was eating before she was swept back into her conversation with Mason. He looked back down to his food and started eating faster, discomforted by how blatantly pleased she looked when she saw him. He tore through the steak, but avoided most of the vegetables, save for the carrots and potatoes. 

“You ready to go, Gage?” Kincaid asked as she and Mason got up from their seats. 

“Huh?” 

“We’re going to go see the molerats now,” Kincaid explained. “You want to come with?” 

“Oh, sure, Boss,” Gage said hurriedly as he also got up. The Pack members who had served them their meals quickly took their plates. The one who took Gage’s glanced at him annoyedly upon noticing he hadn’t eaten all of his food, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want any fuckin’ vegetables. 

They made their way out of dining area, and down through the pathway that once was an employee area back in the day. Paintings and mounts of animals lined the walls, and Pack members milled about with loyal animals of all shapes and sizes in tow. They quickly stepped aside as the Overboss, second in command, and Alpha passed by. 

“Queenie broods in the backstages of the amphitheater,” Mason explained. “She’s got a whole room just for her and her pup’s caretakers.”

“You have Pack members caring for her?” Kincaid asked. Mason laughed. 

“Of course we do. But no Pack runt gets to lay a finger on my Molerat except me. It’s the worker’s job to care for the pups,” the brute of a man said indignantly.

“Jesus, if he ain’t lettin’ noone near his molerat, there’s no wonder why he can’t get a date,” Gage muttered. He sure didn’t mean for Mason to hear him, but the Alpha had surprisingly good hearing. Mason turned to him and raised an eyebrow. They had stopped in front of the doors to the backstage entrance.

“That’s some awful big talk there, Gage,” He warned. Gage stared up at Mason, his blood running cold as ice. A smile pulled at the man’s mouth and exposed sharp teeth. “ ‘Specially for someone as hopeless as yourself.” 

Gage fixed him with a glare, but the annoyance he was mustering to put into it faltered when he saw the look Kincaid was giving him. It was a weird, hopeful look that Gage was afraid to think about, to say the least. What did she want? He couldn’t tell, and that made his skin crawl. So instead looked back to Mason. 

“Yeah, well,” he started, racking his brain for a witty retort. And it was empty. For once in his god damned, life it was fucking empty. He found nothing, zero, zilch. Mason smiled sadistically at his struggle. There was blood on the water now, and Mason was the proverbial shark. Fuck. 

“Havin’ trouble there, big guy? Need a hand? You’re usually sharp on the uptake, always offering a quick retort. Even when it gets you in trouble.” Mason stepped closer to Gage, running a tongue over his teeth. Gage rolled his eye and huffed, instinctively taking a step back. 

“I would’a had something, if your breath wasn’t so bad it derailed my train of thought.” Gage snapped back, instantly regretting his decision when Mason got real god damn close to his face. It was the truth though, the Alpha had breath that stunk of rotting meat. 

Kincaid looked between the two of them and snorted. 

“You guys just love each other, don’t you?” she asked in amusement. Gage went to open his mouth, but Mason beat him to it. 

“Oh, yeah. Definitely,” Mason said loudly as he slung an arm around Gage’s shoulder. The contact made him stiffen, but he didn’t shrink away. He could recover from this. It’s fine. He could salvage what was left of his shattered dignity. “This little twig here is my best friend. Just my best fuckin’ bud.”

Gage could feel the sheer bulk of the man’s muscly arm over his shoulders, and honestly? It freaked him the hell out. He was a strong guy. Gage knew that from the shit he’s heard and seen. One movement, and the guy could break his neck. Just like that. He pulled Gage closer and the pressure was overwhelming. It was like Gage was being crushed, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t move. If Mason wanted, to he could just smother Gage right here and now, just squeeze until he stopped breathing. 

But he didn’t break his neck or squeeze the life out of him. Instead, Mason lifted his arm and playfully pushed Gage forward. But even a playful push from the Pack’s leader was quite forceful and caused Gage to stumble. He couldn’t get far enough away from Mason, not in the tiny hallway they were in. 

“Uh, yeah,” Gage said shakily. “Just the best of pals.”

He turned to glare at Mason, now free of his grasp. 

“Best. Fuckin. Buds,” he grit out with venom dripping from his voice. 

Kincaid watched Gage with an almost studious gaze for a moment before turning to Mason with an amused smile. 

“Well, I’m glad you two are getting along,” she said in a tone that sounded more like an order than a simple remark. Mason chuckled, sounding almost nervous. God damn, if that didn’t make Gage’s heart skip a beat. Here she was, shorter then Mason by a good half a foot, and with one god damn phrase she was making him quiver in those stupid furry pants of his. 

“O’ course, Boss-Lady. ‘Course,” he said hurriedly. “Now, why don’t we get back to checkin’ out them rats? We’re wastin’ your precious time, after all.”

Kincaid nodded, seemingly satisfied. Mason led the three of them through the doors to the backstage entrance. Gage hung back as the other two went forward. He couldn’t help the ghost like sensations of fingers wrapping around his neck, squeezing until he couldn’t breathe. He needed a moment to get himself together. Luckily, the two of them were so invested in the animals that they didn’t notice him lagging behind. 

Good. 

The first thing that Gage saw - well, smelled, rather - was animal. The amphitheater itself reeked of animal shit already, despite the Pack taking surprisingly good care in keeping the place clean, but in here? He wasn’t ever gonna be able to smell right if he stayed in there for long. 

“Now, as I was sayin’ before,” Mason started as they picked their way through the cramped hall. “Queenie has a whole caged area for where she raises her youngins. It’s only a tiny fraction of her whole little kingdom, though.” 

“What do you mean, a fraction?” Kincaid asked curiously. Mason smiled, seemingly pleased to have found someone to boast about his knowledge of animals to. 

“Well, you see, Boss-Lady, molerats do somethin’ a little similar to shit like ants. They make whole fuckin’ colonies, miles long ‘n’ wide, with anywhere from a couple dozen to a couple hundred strong.” 

He motioned to the cage doors the three were quickly approaching. “So that nurse room? That’s only a tiny, tiny fuckin’ chunk of what Queenie’s overseein’.” 

“Wow,” Kincaid said, genuinely amazed. “I didn’t know they did that. How many molerats are in Queenie’s colony?”

Mason smiled proudly. “Too many to fuckin’ count, Boss-Lady. Her colony’s stretched out over most of the whole fuckin park area. It’s huge!” 

Kincaid nodded, impressed, but Gage’s brow furrowed worriedly. How the hell did they manage a bunch of rats? Did they even manage it? Was he walking on top of a Pack Molerat colony every moment he wasn’t inside of Fizztop? The thought concerned Gage profoundly. The idea of a molerat popping up and snatching him away in the middle of a god damn patrol make every hair on him stand on end.

“And they’ll eat fuckin’ anything,” Mason continued. “Plants, animals, people - they don’t give a shit. They’re hungry. Got a Queen to feed.” 

Gage was reminded why he didn’t want to be on Mason’s bad side. If he pissed off the Alpha enough, he was sure there wouldn’t be anything left for Kincaid or Russ to find after. Gage wasn’t sure whatever Mason could do to him would be any better then Nisha, if he was being honest with himself. 

He walked up to the cage door and clasped his hands against the bars, giving smoochy faces to whatever was inside. Gage was gonna be sick. If not from his own head, then by whatever the fuck Mason was doing at what he presumed was a scrotum looking sack of rat flesh.

“But you let those runts know not to fuck with the Pack, don’tcha, sweetheart?” 

Something squealed inside, and it made Mason smile with pure delight. “Yeah, you do!” 

Kincaid hobbled up to the cage door to see what Mason was talking to and gasped. Her face lit up and for a moment, Gage felt the twinge of jealousy. It wasn’t rational, or even logical, but he wanted her to look at him like that. He wanted her face to light up when she saw him, not some squirming scrote of an animal. 

“Gage, you have to see this!” she exclaimed. “Oh, this is cool. This is so fucking cool.” It was probably not cool. It was probably disgusting, and terrible, and was going to make Gage lose his lunch. He was calling it now. Gage wished he had the nerve to say no to her, to tell her he didn’t really need to see it, he wasn’t really interested. He really wished he could tell her no. But he hesitantly stepped forward and peered into the room anyway.

It was huge. Easily longer than Gage was tall. A writhing mass of wrinkly pinkish grey skin and… six legs? When the fuck did molerats have six legs? On one end, a tiny, stumpy tail wriggled to and fro, and on the other, a set of massive teeth, easily as long, if not a little longer, than Gage’s entire fucking arm. A pile of molerat pups, each about the size of one of them little cats, were gathering at its belly, suckling or fighting over its many teats. Fully grown molerats rushed hurriedly around, rushing in and out of a tunnel they’d chewed through where the wall and floor met - which was all solid fuckin’ concrete, he might add. Some came in with food, others left with old bedding. 

Yup. He was gonna lose his lunch. 

Meanwhile, Kincaid and Mason were just LOVING the fuckin’ thing. 

“I got Queenie when I first joined the Pack a few years ago,” Mason said proudly. “I was one of the only people who had one of ‘em. Our old queen died not long before I became Alpha of the Pack. Next thing I know, Queenie here’s the new boss of the gig.” 

He smiled to himself. “S’pose it’s only fittin’ somethin’ of mine becomes somethin’ great. Just like daddy.”

He knelt down and started making more smoochy faces to Queenie, who happily squeaked and slapped her tail against the ground fervently, stirring up hay and whatever else the workers had provided for bedding. 

“Ain’t that right, baby girl? Daddy’s pretty fuckin’ great, ain’t he? Just like you!” 

Queenie squawked and tried to get up to move towards Mason, but the protesting squeaks of her brood forced her to stay put, to her dismay. 

Mason laughed with boisterous delight, causing the bone necklace he was wearing to rattle with him. Kincaid was watching Mason with a soft smile before turning her attention back to Queenie.

Made Gage wanna fuckin hurl. 

Arrogant asshole. It made Gage’s skin crawl, and honestly? He just wanted to shoot Mason in the foot. Or shove him in to get eaten by Molerats. Either or, Gage didn’t care. He wanted out of the fucking zoo as fast as possible. He was god-damn afraid just being exposed to the fumes from the animals would make him start losing brain cells. It was the only god damn reason Gage could think of that explained whatever the fuck Mason was doing towards that fucking mutant molerat.

Not that he’d say it outloud. Didn’t want Mason to crush him to death and feed him to his precious Queenie. 

“Ya’ll have fun, I need some air,” Gage muttered, backing away. Kincaid glanced back to him and smiled reassuringly with a little tilt of her head. Gage nodded and started making his way out, feeling his guts churn. 

“You do what you have to do. I’ll stay here and discuss more of this rat business with Mason,” she called after him as he left. 

“Hey, not so fast,” he heard Mason say as he started to leave. “She ain’t that familiar with you yet.” 

Gage turned back to see Mason pulling at Kincaid’s arm, which was through the cage bars. She looked to Mason rather confusedly. Oh, jesus. It was going to be a clusterfuck. Gage should just leave now, because if he saw Kincaid’s arm get bitten off he didn’t know how he’d snap. 

“Snuffles didn’t seem to mind it when I first met her,” she said in dismay. Mason snorted. 

“This ain’t Snuffles, though,” he said sternly. “If she ain’t used to your scent, she’s just gonna think your hand is food. And lemme tell ya,” 

He paused for a moment and they both watched the cage before a sickening crunch could be heard from within. 

“A molerat will chew through whatever the fuck’s in their mouth. They don’t give a shit.”

Kincaid looked back at Mason with big eyes, which made him laugh. Gage’s brow furrowed. He didn’t know what crunched in that cage, but he didn’t want to find out. Besides, the smell was really starting to get to him now, and he could feel a migraine coming on. He needed a smoke, or something. Anything. He just wanted out of that reeking shithole. 

He stumbled through the halls, following the old signs painted back when it was a park, not a zoo. He pushed open a door and was blasted by warm summer air, and the stench of manure. It was less concentrated though, at least. Thank god for small favors. 

When he did get outside, it was like a breath of fresh air. Well, it was, but - whatever. He was outside, and he could finally fucking breathe. He reached for his pack of cigarettes and grabbed one. 

Seven left, not counting this one. That’d last him at least until tomorrow morning. 

He put it to his mouth and lit it, and let his head rest against the wall as he took a drag. His eye drifted half closed as the nicotine did its magic. He could feel the migraine start to ebb, and the churning in his stomach start to slow. Maybe he wouldn’t lose his lunch today. They had a way to deal with the bloodworms now, a way that did not include fire. 

That was something, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of the things we described the fallout world's version of molerats as being able to do are things real naked mole rats can do. Except real naked mole rat queens probably don't have six legs. Probably. That was taken from the concept art book for Fallout 4.


	22. Twitch and Tug

It was strange.

Raiders didn’t like to do hard work. They didn’t farm, they didn’t raise cattle, they didn’t leather work. At least, none of the gangs Gage had ever belonged to did, and he’d belonged to a lot of gangs in his life. He’d been as far south as Miami. He’d seen shit. He’d like to think he was somewhat of an authority on what raiders did and did not do, as a rule. 

The Pack though?

They raised brahmin, molerats, yao guai, gazelles, you name it; they probably had some in the Zoo. They leather worked and sewed and made their own armor and clothes, they even machined their own parts for their rifles. The other gangs had slaves doing that, but the Pack? Their prisoners were relegated to clean up the animal mess instead. 

That was fair, Porter s'posed. He wouldn’t want to clean a brahmin pen ever fuckin’ again, but he preferred mending his own armor when he could.

Honestly, The Pack was quite unlike any other gang Gage had ever worked with. They were just as loud and violent as other gangs sure, but every one of them pulled their weight. Even the boss. It benefited them in the end, in a lot of ways. Though none of the other gangs would admit to it, if someone in Nuka-World had quality armor or weapon mods, they bought them from the Pack. or they bought them from the Operators and those pompous fucks bought them from the Pack. Gage could only make the roughest estimate to how many caps that brought in, and it was probably a lot. A lot more than their raids tended to bring in.

Gage attributed it to Mason honestly. The man had a work ethic that almost matched Gage’s. He had to have been a settler or some shit like that, any raider kid woulda been too fat on their parent’s hauls to work like Mason worked. 

Mason had come to power within about a month before Kincaid came and murked Colter. Mason had decided that the last two alphas were too much like Colter, too lazy and complacent to keep their kingdom, and thus he challenged them openly to a duel in the Pack amphitheatre. Mason was a massive man, easily six and a half feet and two hundred pounds of pure muscle. He beat both of the last alphas into the ground before tarring and feathering them. He sent them away into the wasteland, clothed only in their own shame, as was Pack tradition. Gage would have put a bullet in them, personally, but who was he to argue with how the individual gangs handled their shit.

So by all means, it shouldn’t have surprised Gage when Mason tagged along on their expedition to clean out Dry Rock. But it did. Unlike Mags and William, Mason drove his own ATV, he did the upkeep on all of his own guns and his sledge, and apparently, he wrangled his own molerats. It was a little bit of a relief that ‘molerat’ had actually meant molerat, and not his dick like Gage had been mildly afraid of. You never knew with raiders.

Gage had seen some shit.

Mason was gazing through a pair of binoculars, leaning against a rotted counter. They were a solid two stories off the ground in a security tower that had a wonderful view of Dry Rock Gulch in the blooming dawn. Gage also leaned against the counter, picking at his nails with his boot knife. Kincaid was having herself a breakfast at a table in the middle of the little abandoned security center. 

“Looks like the first wave was a success.” Mason handed over the binoculars to Gage, who looked through them. It was a fucking massacre. He watched rats diving into bloodworm holes and pull the squirming bastards out of their own dens. Once there was blood on the sand, the rats would rip the worms to ribbons. It was like a train wreck, he just couldn’t look away. 

“Knew my babies would kick ass.” Mason beamed like a over proud father as he looked over to Kincaid. He meandered over to her and flopped down and Kincaid handed him a lunch box that looked tiny in Mason’s hand. “Thanks, Boss-Lady,” Mason said as he flicked the little clasps up. 

Gage watched the two of them before looking back to the carnage. “How long you think we gotta wait before we can go in and assess the park?” Gage asked as Mason shoved an entire tiny sandwich in his mouth. He made a noise and Gage looked back with a quirked brow. 

Kincaid took a delicate bite out of one of her sandwiches before standing up. She wandered over to Gage and held out her hand, flexing it in a very obvious “give me” motion. Gage handed over the binoculars and she peered through them, her tongue darting out of her mouth to catch some stray mayo on her lip. 

“Looks like they’re doing good work over there, I’m impressed!” Kincaid looked over her shoulder at Mason, who gave her a thumbs up as he chewed. “Now we need to find the queen, and cook her to hell.” 

“Figuratively,” Gage asserted as he fixed Kincaid with a look. 

“Literally. With flamers. Big ones,” Kincaid said deadpan as she scanned over the park. “We talked about this. A lot. Not sure why ya’ll need to be reminded of the plan.”

Gage groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose as Mason choked on his crustless sandwich. 

“Boss, no!” they both groaned, before looking at each other. Mason didn’t bother to repress his shudder, which was almost insulting! Almost. Honestly, the feeling was mutual.

“Yeah, we talked about it a bunch, but we told you no to the flamers each time,” Gage said. “It’s too risky. Too much wood. We want a place to move the gangs into that isn’t a burned husk.”

“Besides Boss-Lady, how the fuck are we supposed to make money off of a burned down park huh?” Mason added, licking his fingers.

“We could just give it to the Disciples.” Kincaid shrugged and that made Mason snort. 

Gage hoped she didn’t see him shudder. He still wasn’t sure what had happened to make Nisha turn down a park, but he knew it must have been bad. All Kincaid would say was ‘They said no’ which left the actual encounter up to Gage’s imagination and that was never a good idea. His imagination was usually worse than reality. 

He could see it so clearly though, Kincaid walking through those doors like she owned the place. Nisha bristling up at Kincaid’s blithe attitude, taking it as cocky indifference. Knives would be pulled, blood would be spilled, violence in the bowels of Fizztop mountain. 

And then Porter could feel the icy tip of Nisha’s blade right above his belt again, like the woman was right there and ready to gut him. His blood ran cold and he stopped breathing for a moment. It had probably been volatile if Kincaid’s nonchalance said anything about it. Whatever Kincaid had done, Nisha snubbed her and lost out on an entire territory. 

It was a powder keg waiting to explode. 

“Flamers though,” Kincaid said, bringing Porter back to the present. He looked at her and made a face that caused Kincaid to laugh. That laugh just about melted his spine, he felt like a leaky plasma cartridge.

“We ain’t using flamers, Boss-Lady. Just look at those buildings down there, all of them are wood. We take a flamer to that, soon all that’ll be left is the pieces of busted coaster and some concrete,” Mason argued as he stood up from the table.

Kincaid just made a vague waving motion with her hand. “It’s been two hundred years of rainy springs and snowy winters. It those buildings are still standing, they simply can’t be wood. They gotta be metal or something. We could probably take a bunch of flamers to it and it’d be fine. Trust me. I know things.”

“Yeah, maybe, but a flamer in the hands of a hummingbird just sounds like a bad idea,” Mason added. He grabbed the binoculars from her hands and ignored the indignant peep that came out of her mouth. Gage wasn’t sure if she was reacting to Mason denying her the flamer she wanted or grabbing the binoculars, but he was sure it didn’t really matter. He didn’t think he’d ever say it aloud, but Gage liked the nickname the Pack had given Caid. She was tall, but she did remind him of a hummingbird if he thought about it for longer than few seconds. She never stopped moving, never stopped buzzing around. And, in Porter’s opinion, she was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. Not like his opinion meant anything, really, but so it was. 

She had a point, wood wouldn’t have survived for near so long as it had been. Gage sure as fuck wasn’t going to admit it though. She needed fewer reasons to get her hands on explosives, not more. Plus, knowing their luck, the buildings were all made of some kind plastic and would just melt.

“I’m going to signal that it’s time to start rounding up the babies,” Mason said. He handed the binoculars back to Kincaid who continued to pout in his direction, though she struggled to keep up her desire to be mad at him while simultaneously wanting to go see the baby molerats again. Jesus, she was like a little kid sometimes. It should not have been as endearing as it was, so far as Gage was concerned. “I wanna get ‘em back to the Zoo before we raid the park.” Mason said casually as he made his way to the stairs. 

In the end, Kincaid’s need to hold a grudge was stronger than her love of petting baby animals, so she stayed sitting while Mason went down to the assorted Pack animals milling around the entrance to Dry Rock. Gage idly watched as Mason gave directions to the closest raiders hanging about, and they immediately got to work. They started to pull out many carriers and bait them to tempt the rats back to safety. It kinda amazed Gage that the Pack was so quick to follow Mason’s orders. Though he wasn’t exactly surprised. He’d seen how the Pack acted with the last alphas, and it was definitely not nearly as positive. Before they lounged around like a lazy pack of coyotes, content to scavange the kills from the other gangs. With Mason though? The coyotes became wolves. They were organized, they were deadly. 

Part of him wished his efforts to take out the former Overboss got half the response Mason did, but he understood why it didn’t. He could say all he wanted about the brute of a man, but Mason challenged the alphas publically and fought out in the open for everyone to see. There was no denying Mason’s right to his title in the pack. Gage however? He had gone behind Colter’s back in a pretty nasty coup, even as far raiders went. He didn’t even feel bad about it, and he was the first to admit that dumping the useless sack of flesh into the river was one of the highlights of the last few years. It was right up there with taking Galactic Adventure. Watching Disciples hack his head off and pike it up outside of Fizztop was like carthsis. Every time he thought about it, he was nothing but estatic that Colter was gone. Kincaid was different, she was better in every way. She was strong and smart, she had charm and a delicate touch when it was needed. She listened too, she listened and considered Porter’s ideas. She didn’t always follow his ideas, but it was leagues better than Colter by all means. 

He looked at Kincaid and felt his heart skip a beat. It dawned on him, maybe she didn’t really trust him the way he trusted her. Maybe she didn’t look to him in the same way. He wasn’t her savior, he was her jailor. He’d tricked her into coming to Nuka World to do his dirty work and now she couldn’t leave. She really had little reason to trust him, honestly as far as she knew he could be thinking he’d turn on her just as quick as he turned on Colter. 

He wouldn’t. But how would she know that? Not liked they’d talked about it explicitly.

“Hey, Caid, you, uh, you got a second?” he asked as he looked over at her. She had finished the sandwiches she’d made for herself and had already torn into and consumed three snack cakes fished from her bag, if the wrappers scattered around her were any clue, and was in the middle of unwrapping a fourth. In the few days since their first scouted Dry Rock, Kincaid had eaten more snack cakes than he’d ever seen one person eat at all. He was surprised her teeth didn’t look more like RedEye’s. The two shared a sweet tooth. She claimed it was a side effect of the stimpaks, some kind of healing thing, but Gage suspected it was an excuse to feed that massive sweet tooth.

“I always have time for you, Porter,” she said with a smile and a cute little tilt of her head. The sincerity of her tone was almost entirely ruined when she shoved the whole snack cake in her mouth. He was still affected by it, perhaps even more in the imperfection of it. He’d rather have Caid than perfect.

He pushed that thought away quickly though. He didn’t need shit like that clouding his thoughts, especially with only one park officially under their belts. It didn’t matter how much he wanted them to rule Nuka World together, or how clearly he could imagine kissing her under the stars, on the patio, in the middle of Nuka Town. It didn’t matter. There were three things that did matter. She was a lesbian, he was her second, and he wasn’t sure she trusted him yet.

He needed her to know that she could rely on him. That he wouldn’t throw her under like he did with Colter. It had been three months since Colter was thrown in the river, but it had gone by so fucking fast Gage nearly had whiplash. Metaphorically. It felt like Gage had gotten pretty damn close to Kincaid in that time, but he had to remember that three months wasn’t anything. It was a blink of time in the grand scheme of things. He needed to tell her, otherwise she wouldn’t know.

“You know that business with Colter?” Gage asked as he looked over at her again, fiddling with his pack of cigs. She looked severe now, the playfulness gone. 

“Yeah, Russ showed-”

“Not that,” Gage clarified with a brisk shake of his head. He could hand exactly one mentally taxing topic at once, and he really didn’t want it to be that. He was still pretty angry Russell had showed her all of that. It wasn’t exactly like he had been planning to tell Kincaid ever either, but it wasn’t Russ’ place. “I meant what happened in the Gauntlet.”

“With the squirt gun? When you betrayed Cunt-er?” Kincaid asked and Gage did a double take. Did she just call Colter a cunt? Gage stared at her for a moment, and with every second that past her smile got wider. She was expecting some kinda reaction, but he just didn’t really feel like laughing. He was trying to be serious damn it. He instead looked down at his cigs and tapped one out.

“Uh, yeah,” Gage muttered lamely. She almost looked disappointed. “I know we talked about it a little bit and all. But I figured-” he looked away from her and licked his lips before slipping his cig into his mouth. He couldn’t handle that look she was giving him. He couldn’t stand the thought of disappointing her in ways that actually mattered.

“I figured it could be a sore spot is all,” Gage spat out, like it was poison on his tongue. “I mean, here I went and betrayed Colter. Who’s to say I ain’t gonna turn and do the same to you?” He’d never; she wasn’t Colter. She wasn’t shitty and terrible and lazy and all the little things that led to Colter’s downfall. She was cocky, sure, and she was brash and violent but she was a good boss. She cared. At least more than Colter ever did anyways. 

When he looked back at her, she had a wry little smile on her face. “What? Suddenly grow a conscience Gage? Feelin’ guilty there?” Kincaid asked as she meandered over to him. She got real close, right into the bubble of his personal space. Gage took an instinctive step back and felt his face screw up for a second.

“No! Ain’t no guilt outta that call. Colter was a fuckin’ asshole.” Gage spat out Colter’s name, and for good measure spat at the floor too. “You know that. He was shit for the gangs, shit for the parks-”

“Bad for you too,” Kincaid said softly. She wasn’t teasing now. Her voice was too soft for that, her tone was too, too- He had a hard time putting a word to it. Gage couldn’t place it. It gave him a little more courage though. 

“But that was all on me,” Gage told her as he lit his cig. He sucked in a drag and let the smoke flow out his nose. He tried to pretend this wasn’t affecting him, but this whole conversation simply put him on edge. Kincaid tilted her head and hummed, encouraging him to continue. “I put that asshole up as Overboss.”

“Look if you’re gonna tell me you shoved a hand up his ass and turned him into a human puppet. I don’t think I wanna hear it.” Kincaid told him briskly. She shook her head like she was imagining it, and the look on her face was almost comical. 

Gage couldn’t help but snort. “Jesus Christ, Caid,” he laughed. She tricked it out of him, but it was a real laugh. “That’s a helluva imagination right there.” She smiled all wide at him, looking pleased as punch with herself. “But no. I did not shove my hand up his ass. Woulda’ probably had less problems if I had.” Gage considered the image for a moment and let out another snort. “The fuck was stupid. He was stupid and stubborn, and I ignored it,”

“I thought he was the right thing at the time though, someone big and intimidatin’ to keep the gangs in line and push out the traders.” Gage looked back out over Dry Rock Gulch where Pack members were still bustling around with carriers. “He was big, strong, didn’t take shit from nobody you know?” She hummed in acknowledgment. “The gangs would fear and respect him, he’d listen to me and I’d use my years of experience to help him run things. Real simple,” Gage told her as he looked back down at his hands. That’s where he’d been oh so very wrong. “But he was stubborn. Let shit go to his head you know?”

“Yeah,” Kincaid said softly. Gage looked back to her, wondering what sorta shit she’d seen. They were almost the same age, and he was old as fuck for a raider. Forty years had not been kind to him. Her thirty six had to have been far nicer. 

“You know Gage, I got a question,” Kincaid said suddenly, turning so that her back was against the counter. Gage watched her, quirking a brow. “You got a damn good head on your shoulders, why didn’t you just take over? You’d make a damn good boss.”

“Because the gangs don’t respect me. They ain’t never gonna respect me, not after Colter.” Gage said softly as he looked away from her again. “Besides, I don’t want that target on my back. When you’re the boss, there’s always someone gunnin’ for you. Be it a rival gang, or some upstart punk who thinks he knows better.” Like Mason, and the whole reason he was the alpha of The Pack now. Though he ignored his personal opinion that Mason was better than the last guy since that didn’t really matter. “I don’t want that on me, but if I can be the guy right behind the guy in charge? Well, that suits me just fine.”

Kincaid hummed thoughtfully as she played with one of her knives. Gage took it as a cue to continue since she wasn’t interrupting. “See, if I got the ear of the guy in charge, I can usually steer shit in a way that benefits me, and most of the time everyone else.” 

He almost missed the smile that played across Kincaid’s face with how quickly she invaded his personal space. She was so close, he could feel her hot breath on his face, he could see her pupils dilate in the growing morning light. His cig dropped out of his mouth, hitting the floor and rolling slightly. 

“You gonna get up behind me and whisper in my ear, Mr. Gage? I didn’t know you had it in you,” she sounded playful but it set off every warning bell in his head. He froze in place and his eye went wide. She chewed on her lower lip, waiting for what seemed like an eternity for his answer.

“Come on boss. I’m tryin’ to be serious here,” he told her quietly. She scanned his face before she just laughed and pulled away. Gage felt like he was missing something, something important, but it was gone now and never to return. It left his skin chilled, and the silence seemed almost awkward. He stomped out his fallen cig, chewing on how he was going to handle the silence. He decided to just continue, like she hadn’t done anything. 

“Look, what I’m gettin’ at is that you ain’t Colter,” He needed to get that much across. He’d gotten distracted, far too distracted. There was a reason they were having this conversation. “You ain’t like any other wasters I’ve ever run with. You’re better.” he needed her to understand that. “And I ain’t gonna betray you, not like I did with Colter you know? You ain’t gotta worry about me shivin’ you in the kidney and puttin’ up anyone else.”

“I know that Gage.” Kincaid reached over and put her hand on his. He froze in place again, staring at where her hand was on his. “You’ve saved my life before Gage. You don’t just do that to people you intend to replace.” Her thumb brushed softly over the back of his hand. “You’d have just let me get ripped up by worms. ‘Oh, she was dumb and got pulled under, here’s someone else to focus on’ or some shit.” Kincaid looked away and Gage was almost disappointed when she let go of his hand. “Or, ‘hey the Gunners got the boss and oh no she happens to be dead’ when I tried to run. You care.” she let out a soft little laugh that made his spine go all melty again. “You might try and act like you don’t. But one of us has both eyes.” Kincaid looked over and a smile played its way onto her face. 

“Now that’s just a low blow,” Gage grumbled as his hand absentmindedly reached up to his patch. “But fuck it. You get what I’m sayin’,”

“Yeah. I getcha Gage.” Kincaid pushed off the counter and started making her way downstairs. “Let’s go kill some shit.” Kincaid shot him a wink and Gage wasn’t sure how to take it. All he knew was that his stomach just twisted up like a coil of rope. 

There was just something about Caid that caught him off guard. He was going on forty, but somehow she made him feel like he was a green little sixteen-year-old who didn’t know shit about girls and thought they had cooties. She gave him this soft look he didn’t deserve, and it caused his chest to tighten in an uncomfortable way. He wanted to put an arm around her and pull her into a hug like he was some soft settler.

“You two birds all done up in the nest here?” Mason called, and Gage didn’t want to admit how much Mason had startled him. Gage shuffled, even though he had nothing to hide, and Kincaid just smiled, her earlier grudge forgotten, as she bounded towards the stairs. As Gage followed behind, he wondered what the hell Mason meant with his bird comment. Was that just a Pack thing, to call everyone animal names? Did he catch on Gage’s feelings and did he mean love birds? Was he just teasing Gage by calling him a girl? This probably wasn’t a healthy thought spiral, but now he couldn’t stop now that he started. Now that he had a chance to think about it, Gage was sure Mason was making fun of him.

That much was crystal clear. 

It soured Gage’s mood considerably. He stalked down the stairs and Mason chuckled as he leaned against his ATV. “Rats are all caught and being transported back to the Zoo. Park’s mostly clean, now we go in with-”

“Flamers!” Kincaid proclaimed as both her arms shot into the air like a child who was excited to go to market.

“No!” Mason said at once, and Gage was a little glad he wasn’t the only person trying to talk sense to the Boss for once. “No flamers. Not here at least. Once we get the park, we’ll find a place where you can get your burn thing on! We’ll let you burn everything that makes your little heart go pitter patter Boss-Lady, but here? Right now? No. End’a fuckin’ discussion,” Mason glared at Gage when he snorted. Gage couldn’t help it, he was used to being the only voice of reason. 

“You’re a big ole’ joy kill.” Kincaid stuck her tongue out at Mason as she walked past him and got into the ATV. She settled into the driver’s seat and looked at the two men with a raised brow. “You gonna get in?” she asked, almost too sweet. 

“Nuh uh. You ain’t driving my baby either. I saw what you did to my other ATVs.” Mason told her. He shoo’d her with his hands and she grumbled as she crawled over the center console and into the passenger side. “We had to replace the breaks and axle on them. Well, the one you drove. Porter drives like an old lady going to church on Sunday.” Mason settled into his seat as Porter hauled himself onto the back.

“Fuckin’ rude,” Gage grumbled as he settled in. He let out a disgruntled sigh as Mason stroked the dash of the ATV. “I don’t drive like I’m tryin’ to meet god early like both y'all,” Gage groused, Kincaid looking over the back of the seat. 

“You went to church!” Kincaid said as she tilted her head.

“You already pointed that out Boss,” Gage chuckled as he braced himself. Mason swerved to hit something and Porter’s stomach jumped into his throat. He was going to be sick. He was sure Mason was drifting just to hit things. He was almost as bad as Kincaid, almost. Kincaid would hit shit just to get air. Mason hadn’t quite gone that far yet.

Yet. 

At least he thought so before he actively watched with his own eyes as Mason drifted sideways, nearly tipping the ATV, to hit two bloodworms that had surfaced not far from each other. This asshole was drifting to hit bloodworms on purpose and he was going to kill all three of them. Gage tried closing his eyes, but that made the effect of the motion worse. 

He could feel it. He could feel his light Fizztop breakfast bubbling its way up and he was glad he'd skipped eating when Kincaid offer him his own carefully packed lunchbox. As they skid to a stop Gage scrambled to the side of the ATV’s bed and hurled over the side. He wheezed as another wave of nausea crawled up his throat. 

“You ok?” Kincaid asked, hanging half out her window. Gage gave her a shaky thumbs up before vomiting again. “You don’t look ok,” she said softly, reaching over and rubbing his back as he drooled into the dirt. 

“You need a bag for your lunch there?” Mason asked as he stepped out of the ATV. Gage raised his middle finger and wiped his mouth with the back of his free hand. He sucked in a shaky breath and Kincaid forced a bottle of water into his hand. 

“Fuck you, you big damn ape. If you didn’t drive like a fuckin’ maniac I-” He looked down at the bottle now in his hand, and where Kincaid was gently making sure he continued to grasp it. “Boss, I- I’m fine. I don’t need that.”

“When you puke, you lose water. Drink, that's an order, Porter,” Kincaid told him firmly. Gage looked back down at the water bottle before looking at Kincaid. Her grip tightened slightly, so Gage unscrewed the top and took a drink to placate her. 

“Jesus. Is she your boss or your mom?” Mason chuckled as he unhooked his sledge from the ATV frame. 

“Says the man who ate four tiny crustless sandwiches because he forgot to pack a snack,” Kincaid said blythley. Porter snorted water out of his nose, stinging his sinuses. She had a point though. He wiped his nose on his tank top, snickering at the shocked look on Mason’s face. 

When he’d collected himself, and Kincaid had retrieved her duffle bag from Mason’s ATV, the three of them turned to the park. ED-E was hovering in the entryway, waiting for the three patiently.

“Took you long enough,” bubbled out of the bot’s speakers as they approached. It was a recording of a old man with a Spanish accent. The bot had a lot of those Gage had realized. Likely someone Kincaid traveled with when they were in the Mojave. 

“Oh look, the bot scrap thinks it's got a sense of humor,” Mason chuckled with a dangerously sharp glare at the eye-bot. It wasn’t going to do him any good, Porter could tell him that. ED-E beat him to it though. 

“Pendejo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took caid 3 months to get to the first affinity conversation lmfao.


	23. I Got Spurs (That Jingle Jangle Jingle)

“Don’t worry,” Kincaid bat her eyelashes at Gage. That was a bad sign, so far as he was concerned. “I speak cowboy.”

Oh, Jesus.

Of course, they had to stop for a protectron in a cowboy hat. Naturally. They were just fine in Mason’s ATV, safe from the worms with ED-E all tucked in the back. But now? Now Kincaid was flouncing her way up to this protectron, and even gave it a little bow. ED-E mirrored her and Gage sneered. 

Gage wasn’t sure that was how it worked, but he also wasn’t about to argue with the boss. She had pulled her hat off her duffle bag and perched it on her head. Honestly? In Gage’s opinion, she looked the part at the very least. She had that long leather duster, and she was spinning her revolver in her hand. Her bot beeped and she laughed, the sound playing across the hot air.

Using Mason’s molerats had worked like a charm, the few bloodworms that were still cropping up weren’t even as big as his foot, and those would crush satisfyingly under his boot. The molerats had left an unholy mess in the park, however. Between their shit and the bloodworm bits, Gage was glad he wasn’t on clean-up duty. He’d seen what happened when a grenade was shoved up a brahmin's backside, it was cleaner than this mess. 

God save the Pack slaves who would have to clean this shit up. 

Gage wasn’t keen on staying in an ATV with just Mason so he swung his legs out and followed Kincaid as she stood up. He walked up just as it went into its programmed speech. Gage scanned the landscape inside the park. It was still, save some of the pack members who were lingering about and killing any leftover worms. The buildings looked like they were made of wood, but they were in way too good of condition to actually be wood. 

They had to be plastic, Gage would bet his good eye on it. 

“Howdy partner! Hope y'all are having a good day here at Nuka-World. Ready to saddle up and ride into the old wild west?” the protectron said with its odd inflections. It was such a strange choice for an information source, but with how fast raiders who could barely read hacked into the funny robot outside the market it was probably for the best. “Is this your first time to Dry Rock Gulch?”

“It sure is pardner! What is there to see in these there parts?” Gage stared at Kincaid with a raised eyebrow. She was going full spaghetti western, complete with ED-E playing western music. God, Gage hadn’t heard anyone talk like that since he was knee-high to a piss ant watchin’ old holos while bouncing on his nan’s knee. It was all giddy ups and rootin’ shootin’ that was for little kids. He was only half paying attention though, because Mason, entirely bored with the concept of a cowboy protectron, was groping a mannequin. At least, that was what Gage thought he might be doing, either that or trying to get the chaps off of it. 

But Kincaid? She looked like she was having a blast. 

“Well the door to,” Gage jumped when the cadence of the bot changed suddenly, “Mad Mulligan's Mine,” it was a different voice, not the stock protectron, and it was recorded with a strange inflection that made Gage want to go crawl back into the ATV with Mason, “is all locked up. I got a spare key and some treasure in a safe by the theater, but wouldn't you know, I plum forgot what the combination to the safe was!” it said. “You'll to talk to my three amigos,” Gage couldn’t hold back the eyeroll. To be fair, he didn’t try. “Doc Phosphate, One-Eyed Ike, and the Giddyup Kid. Prove to them that you're tough enough to take on the outlaws, and they'll give you their part of the combination.”

“A treasure hunt! I love treasure hunts!” Kincaid laughed as she smacked Gage’s arm. He just frowned. Mixing Kincaid and treasure hunts seemed like pouring gas on fire if you asked him, which no one ever did but still. “You gotcha self a bounty hunter, Sheriff Hawk! Me and my possy will wrangle up them varmints for you lickity-split, bet my hat on it.” 

“Good luck, little doggie! And don't forget your complimentary deputy uniform, courtesy of Nuka-Cola!” It held out a little plastic star with the word deputy in relief. Kincaid grabbed the star and pinned it to the lapel of her leather duster.

“How do I look, Mr. Gage?” she asked while she held her arms out in a ‘ta-da’ flourish. ED-E beeped approvingly, and Kincaid flashed the bot a thumbs up. 

“Like a real old west deputy, boss,” Gage said. The bright, winning smile that broke out on her face was almost worth the headache of dealing with the bot in the first place. “So I think we should head straight for the coaster door,” Gage told her as he tapped out a cig. He put it to his lips but didn’t light it yet. “No reason to run around before we know what we’re up against.”

“But Gage, there’s a treasure hunt. That means treasure at the end. Which usually means caps,” Kincaid said as she walked into the dusty old western market. Gage followed behind her like a hound dog, trying to get her to see sense. Mason hadn’t succeeded in having relations with the mannequin and had decided whatever they were going to be doing was more interesting. 

“This is all prewar junk. There ain’t gonna be a single cap at the end and you know it,” Gage replied as he pulled his lighter out of his pocket. She opened her mouth to respond, looking like an indignant feline. Like the fat house cat who just got the cream and then got it taken away.

“Mr. Gage!” was all she managed before he lit his cig and an alarm went off. They all jumped as the sheriff ambled over to them faster than Gage had ever seen a protectron move. It had its arm upraised.

“Cease and desist. No smoking in Dry Rock Gulch!” Sheriff Hawk proclaimed. Gage raised an eyebrow and took a drag off his cig. The bot just stood there, a single arm raised.

“And whatcha gonna do about-” Gage started before he promptly received a face full of fire retardant. It tasted foul, but that wasn’t the worst of it. The worst was the peals of laughter from Kincaid and Mason. Gage spit out the ruined cig and glared at the sheriff bot as it ambled away. 

“Oh my god,” Mason wheezed as he leaned against a kiosk. “Whah-cha gonn’ do ‘bout it,” he said mockingly, trying to mimic Gage’s accent. Kincaid was completely incapacitated with laughter, hiding her face in her coat as tears streamed down her face. Gage glared at them both before turning his back to them. He wanted a smoke. He needed a smoke. And now? Now he wasn’t going to get to smoke. 

“Come on boys, we got some treasure to hunt,” Kincaid said as she tried to walk past Gage with a straight face. She failed, but at least she tried. He followed the soft laughter and ED-Es beeping as they made their way into the ‘Dry Rock Market’ according to the sign. Kincaid was like a kid in a candy shop if the candy shop was abandoned market that hadn’t been manned for 200 years. There were cow-poke clothes, bandanas, as well as the normal Cappy printed offerings that existed in all the parks.

Gage scraped some of the foamy fire retardant out of the nooks of his pauldrons but was dismayed when it just smeared. “Boss, I’m gonna need new digs.” Gage sighed in defeat as he shook his hand to flick the foam off of them. Kincaid turned with a tilt of her head and a small chuckle. 

“Ok, let's see if we can find anything in your size,” Kincaid said before she turned to the stalls and started to rummage around in the old fabrics. 

“So we're looking for baby sizes,” Mason said deadpan and Gage just fixed a glare at him.

“No, Mason, we’re looking for Porter Gage sizes,” Kincaid corrected, entirely oblivious to the obvious jab. Gage got to work on removing his armor buckle by buckle. He slid the roll frame off, and it fell to the ground with a heavy thud. He slid off the pauldrons and let those fall to the dirt too. Wasn’t like the roll cage was going help very much with the worms anyway. They fit between the bars, and it was starting to get hot enough that the metal was getting uncomfortable to wear. 

“Jesus Christ,” Mason muttered, and Gage looked over. “You’re fucking scrawny as hell without that thing on.” Gage glared at Mason as the boss looked him from head to foot. “Do you ever fuckin’ eat?” Mason asked, and it threw Gage for a loop. Mason sounded sincere, for once in that overgrown ape’s life, he sounded sincere. 

“‘Cause Colter was known for sharin’, one of his defining features if you recall.” Gage’s voice was dripping with as much sarcasm as he could fit until it overflowed. “Right up there with payin’ me my share on time and how good he was with puppies.” 

“Dude, he tried to use our hounds for target practice,” Mason pointed out, and Gage couldn’t decide if Mason was just being an asshole, or if he was really that stupid. Gage pinched the bridge of his nose as Mason leaned against one of the kiosk counters. Just as Gage was about to open his mouth, Kincaid popped up from one of the kiosks and held her arm up triumphantly as ED-E played music. 

“I found me some flannel!” Kincaid shouted, holding bright pink flannel in the air. It blew gently in the breeze like some cow-poke flag from her arm. Mason snorted, and Gage sighed. “It’s my size too, just a lil’ too long.” Kincaid mused as she shucked off her coat and pulled out a pocket knife. “Just gotta trim the edge and-”

“That’s great and all boss, but you were lookin’ for a new shirt for me,” Gage pointed out as the rip of fabric filled the air. He heard a quiet ‘oops’ and when he looked back at the boss he got a eyeful of bare tit. He quickly averted his gaze and Mason did the same. 

Gage was comforted, even just a little, by the fact Mason was also red as a god damn tomato. 

“That’s a real nice tat you got, Boss-Lady.” Mason was looking at the Cappy merchandise like it was the most interesting bullshit in the world. Gage snorted and opted instead to pick at his nails with his boot knife while she got her wardrobe sorted. 

“Aww, thanks, Mr. Mason.” Kincaid let out a little giggle, and then a sigh. “I cut it too short.” Gage could hear the frown in her voice even though he refused to look up until he was sure she was dressed again. “Eh, that’s ok. It looks cute as a crop top.” Gage looked back and found that she fit every single horny pubescent fantasy he had when he was a teenager. The edges of the flannel were tied just under her breasts and in a cute little bow. The buttons were all undone, giving him a fantastic view of the cow skull that took up most of her chest. She pulled on her hair, working on braiding one half down her neck.

“You clothed, Boss-Lady?” Mason asked, and he got laughter in response. “I’m turnin’ round, and if your tits are out I’m gonna stare at them. It’s gonna be uncomfortable, for both us.” at least he warned her, Gage supposed. 

When Mason turned she just shrugged. “Stare away, I don’t care.” Gage was more interested in watching her fingers as she braided her hair. She finished one side and tied it off with a little pink ribbon she produced from her pants pocket. She went instantly to the other side and got to work.

With her hair like that, it was like she stepped out of a settler themed skin mag. 

Lesbian. She was a fucking lesbian. Gage reminded himself of this and it soured everything. He pulled out his smokes as a distraction, before realizing that he couldn’t actually smoke. 

That just pissed him off worse.

“Jesus. Just watched Gage turn into a grumplepuss,” Mason teased as he walked up to Kincaid. “Look at him, looks like he ate a lemon.” Gage glared at the alpha as Kincaid looked over. 

“Oh Mr. Gage, I’m sorry. There’s a strict no smokin’ policy in Dry Rock, on account of all this wood.” Kincaid knocked on the not-wood and rolled her eyes. It sure didn’t sound like wood, but it sure as fuck was not the metal she claimed. Plastic, Gage was real fuckin’ sure it was fucking plastic. 

And if he didn’t get a smoke soon, he was gonna break one of the boards in half to prove his point. 

“Come on Mr. Gage, I think I see a lonely ranchero who requires our assistance,” Kincaid said as she pointed to a protectron on the edge of the market, who was tending to a very small and very empty pasture. Gage frowned, and so did Mason. 

“Boss, before we go help this ‘ranchero’ can we go check the fuckin’ door to the mine? Please? For my fuckin’ sanity?” Gage asked. It caused Kincaid to pause, and turn to him. She tilted her head, watching him for a moment in silence. Gage was afraid she was gonna start crying. He did not have the willpower to handle her crying. He knew it, she knew it, he was pretty sure Mason assumed it. Hell, maybe even the bot knew it. 

“Boss-Lady, please. Listen to the fuckin’ cyclops,” Mason said as Gage secured his roll cage to his rucksack. He tucked away his pauldrons and shot Mason a look, but Mason didn’t seem to mean anything by it. He let it slide without comment, ‘specially since Kincaid let out a defeated sigh. 

“Fine. Let’s go to the mine, realize it’s locked, go ‘oh Kincaid you were totally right and deserve a good old fashioned pamper day, I’ll wait on your every whim and bring you our prettiest wenches’ and I’ll be like ‘thats right Mason and Porter, I was right’ and Porter’ll be like ‘oh boss I was so wrong and you were so right and I’m so sorry please buy me more clothes because I can’t seem to keep clothes unstained to save my life’ and I’ll be like-”

“You’ll be gettin’ my boot up your ass you keep going,” Gage warned, and like the mature adult she was, Kincaid stuck her tongue out at him. It didn’t stop the churning in his guts, and the ghosting of sharp pain right in his side. He shoved it down, stomping past her and towards the big mountain on the edge of the park. He hadn’t meant to ruin that shirt, it was hardly his fault that Dix had stabbed him, so why the fuck should he feel guilty about that? He’d decided that he saved Kincaid from Dixie’s knife that night. And she’d said she was ok with it. She’d said it wasn’t his fault. 

He needed to drive that into his brain. 

The guilt was uncomfortable and oppressing, and despite Mason’s attempts to lighten the mood while they walked towards the mine, Gage kept quiet. Kincaid’s chatter was far more subdued now, and she and Mason were talking quietly behind him. He ignored it and instead stomped his way closer and closer to the mine. 

He really should have noticed the hives sooner. He should have spared a moment to look up, to see them clinging to the supports of the coaster, but he didn’t not until he heard the buzzing. He stared up at the massive stingwings as they crawled out of their nests, loudly buzzing with displeasure. 

“Shit,” Gage hissed, taking a step back. 

“Don’t move,” Kincaid growled, and he flicked his gaze over to her. She had her rifle out and was aiming up at the nest. “They sense fear,” she said with confidence Gage was very sure she had not earned. Well, he was fucked then. He hated bugs, he hated big bugs with every single drop of blood in his body. He hated how they buzzed, he hated how they bit, and he sure as fuck hated trying to kill them. If he ever died to a bug his last words would be spent begging whoever was around him to promise that it would never get out. He’d rather die tripping over his own fuckin’ gun. 

It’d be less embarrassing.

A shot cracked out and Gage came out of his skin. He hit the ground and covered his head, as his heart nearly thundered out of his ribs. The angry buzzing of stingwings got louder and he scrambled to grab his rifle. 

“Boss-Lady I’m kinda fucked here!” Mason gripped his sledge and widened his stance. He was basically useless, seeing as they were circling overhead like a multi-legged shitstorm. Gage lined up a shot and got one in the wing. It spiraled down and Mason swung his sledge like it was a fucking baseball bat to finish it off. ED-E all but cheered as its little laser tried to fry the downed bug. Gage went to line up another shot, but there were too many. They circled above them and had yet to dive, but Gage knew it was only a matter of time.

“Retreat!” Kincaid called out as ED-E zoomed away with a beepy screetch. “We can regroup and come in with a plan.” Mason nodded, but Gage shook his head and brought the sight on his rifle up to his eye. They had injured one already. He could do this. He could weaken them enough so they were slow enough to hit. There weren’t that many. They could crush these bugs.

Then one saw an opening a dove. Gage figured he could hit it before it could hit him, and he was about to pull the trigger before he was tackled to the ground, out of the stingwing’s path.

“Porter Gage, I said retreat. Now,” she ordered. He couldn’t question her now. He could have done something before, but now he lost his footing and his aim. He didn’t have time to right himself before one or more dove for them again. He scrambled to his feet and followed after Kincaid. He didn’t look behind them to see if the stingwings were on his tail and he didn’t really look where they were going in front of him. When they finally came to a stop, Gage huffed as he tried to catch his breath. He reached into his pocket for his cigs until he saw a protectron in a different but equally stupid hat off to one side and thought better of it.

It looked like they stopped at some kinda sitting area. Kincaid’s attention had been taken by a machine mounted on one of the stalls, so Gage felt like he had a second to sit down.

“Hey Gage, do you still have those bottles of Nuka I put in your pack?” she asked. Gage was still worried about catching his breath and willing away his headache, so he just passed his pack over to her so she could rifle through it for her gross Nuka-Cola. It was only when it left his hand that he realized exactly how fucking stupid, trusting, or both, he was to just hand his bag over to the boss. He knew he trusted her, but he hadn’t realized it went that deep.

She pulled bottle after bottle from his and her pack as she fiddled with the machine. First, it didn’t look too bad. She mixed a Nuka-Cola and a Nuka-Cherry. Not Gage’s cup of tea, but it seemed normal enough. Then she pulled out a Nuka-Wild and a Nuka-Cherry. That sounded awful. Then she pulled out a Quantum and a Nuka-Dark. It was like she was just seeing if she could mix things without stopping to think about whether or not she would like the resulting mixture.

“Holy shit is that a giant ass Giddy-Butt?” Mason gasped and Gage’s attention snapped over to the alpha, who was climbing up on top of a massive statue that was in front of a massive merry-go-round. “Look at it! It’s huge!” Mason shouted, looking back at Caid and Gage with a really stupid grin on his face. Caid was still busy with the mixing station, but Gage hated himself a little bit that he was indulging any attention on this asshole’s antics.

“Mason if you climb on that its gonna-” It was too late. The dumbass was climbing on it. Gage and ED-E watched as Mason climbed higher and higher. ED-E let out a quiet little doot and Gage nodded. “Its gonna fall over,” Gage said under his breath as the giant horse-thing tilted. Mason let out a shriek as the horse pitched first to one side, and then forward. It crashed into the ground and Mason was pitched away from the statue. Gage quirked an eyebrow and Mason shoved himself up from the cobblestone path. 

“That was fucking great!” he shouted before running over to the other, matching statue. Gage rolled his eye and looked back to Kincaid. His heart skipped a beat as he watched her dump a bunch of Med-x into some sludgy looking monstrosity. 

“Kincaid!” Gage snapped and caused Kincaid to jump. She looked over and stared at him, the weird elixir in her hand. “You ever stop and think ‘just cause I can, don’t mean I should’ like, ever?” Gage asked as he leaned on his hand. She looked at the bottle in her hand, and then back at Gage.

“Nope,” she said, a smile spreading across her face.

“That ain’t somethin’ to be proud of, boss,” Gage countered as he shoved himself up. He snatched his pack from the boss before wandering over to Mason. “And you? You ever learn either?” Gage asked as Mason clambered up the second statue. 

“Bold of you to assume I have anything to learn.” Mason countered, and Gage let out a grumble. He was surrounded by literal children. He was surrounded by literal children and he watched ED-E go floating off. Now he was the singular voice of reason. Fantastic. He watched as Mason climbed into the sculpted saddle and for a second, he entertained the thought that Mason was a small little boy. It was amusing and drew a chuckle out of Gage. 

He heard a clip-clop and turned, seeing Kincaid, straddling a stick. It had a decapitated Giddy-Up Buttercup head attached at one end, and Kincaid had the reins in her hand. She sidled up to him and flashed him a smile. 

“Howdy!” she said, with her usual chipper tone. “Y’all know your way to the closest rodeo?” she asked, pointing a finger gun at Gage. He let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose before looking at Kincaid again. Here she was, riding on some kinda child’s toy like Mason.

“You ever actually ridden an animal, boss?” he asked with a shake of his head.

“Course I have! I rented a hayburner out in the Mojave. Name was Sparkles,” she said. “I’m a proper cowboy, I’ll have you know.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Gage said, though he had to admit she tricked a laugh out of him. He really did have a hard time imagining her as a ‘proper cowboy’ as she put it. Gage’s family had kept a few hayburners, but he wasn’t sure how she rode one, considering her metal bones. She’d break the poor mule’s back. Plus, he was sure she didn’t spend much time around the beast, because they were stupid as all hell. He couldn’t count the number of times he had to go out and keep a hayburner from strangling itself on the wire fence.

“Now that wasn’t very nice, Mr. Gage. You’re turning out to be a right, proper bandit, aren’t ya?” she said. She waggled her finger at him like that meant something.

“Yeah, boss, we’ve established that I’m a raider,” Gage drawled. “What about it?”

“You’re a varmint,” she said. She gave him a wink and shifted her hand into a finger gun, pointed in his vague direction. “And I’m a deputy. Bang.” 

“Ready to head back to the big fake mountain, Boss-Lady?” Mason asked. He’d climbed down from the Giddy-Up he’d been having fun with and joined them again. Gage didn’t normally say this, but he was glad Mason was there. They needed to move forward and not just fuck around with clothes and toys all day, as Kincaid was liable to do when she was left to her own devices. “I got a feeling that’s where we’ll find the nest and queen.”

Kincaid frowned and turned away.

“We got a bounty to fill,” she said. Gage almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Boss-” Gage tried, but she just steamrolled over him.

“There’s loot if we get all the pieces to the puzzle and save the rancher’s daughter from the outlaw, Prospector Pete.”

Gage closed his eyes and took in one deep breath and then a second. He rubbed his face as if that would change Caid’s mind. It was all a game. It was some prewar child’s game set up by a shitty company that probably didn’t have anything good at the end. And the Overboss wanted to play along.

He opened his eye to argue and found Kincaid sprinting away from him. His eye widened and he looked at Mason, who looked just as stumped as him. The boss just ran away, with a stick between her legs, because she wanted to continue playing in a burned out theme park. There was nothing Gage, or Mason for that matter, would be able to do to sway her mind on the matter so it would just go faster if he went along with her. Gage dragged himself out of his chair and went to go find where she’d run off to.

Thankfully, she hadn’t gone far and she was stopped to talk to that same protectron that had been too close for his comfort to think about smoking.

“Kincaid, I swear to fucking Christ-”

“Gage its so sad! He’s lost his herd! We have to help!” Kincaid said, trying to act like she as going to cry. She was also keeping out of his reach, and trying to make it look natural. 

“Oh sucks to suck,” Gage growled. “Boss. we gotta-”

“I ain’t gotta do shit!” she proclaimed, backing up and out of his reach. “I’m GONNA go find these butter cups, wrastle them, then drag their pony asses over here!” Kincaid put on a brave face before turning from him and skipping away. Gage watched her go, skipping down one of the streets. 

If anyone other then Mason saw this, he’d be dead. But luckily, it was Mason, who was laughing so hard he was leaning on the protectron. He was sure a lot of help. 

Gage wandered through the streets, following Kincaid’s footprints. He took a turn and just about bumped into her back with a grunt. “Boss?” he asked, and Kincaid turned around. 

“I saw a buttercup on the tracks. I think we can get to it from here,” Kincaid told him, pointing at a piece of downed track. At the base, there was a crashed coaster with about twenty skeletons still inhabiting it. 

Something about the scene struck Gage as humorous. Maybe it was the idea that these chumps died on a roller coaster, or maybe it was the way they had their arms out and heads tilt back like they were screaming. Gage wasn’t sure, but the snort that escaped him was not pretty. Kincaid turned to him and raised an eyebrow, tilting her head. 

“They died having a helluva time,” Gage pointed out with a shrug. Kincaid turned back and a smile stretched across her face. She’d discarded the Giddyup stick at some point, thank fuck, so she walked over to the coaster like a regular goddamn human being, and started to climb. Gage followed suit, carefully climbing up. By the time they made it to the peak, they were a solid hundred feet in the air, and it made Gage’s stomach churn. He’d never been so thankful that it was not wood used to make the park. And that it was probably plastic, plastic that he hoped against hope kept its structural stability.

He followed Kincaid across the snaking tracks. It was wide enough for them to walk side by side, but he didn’t like the idea of being that close to the edge. The sun beat down on them as they meandered, Kincaid leading them to a Giddyup Buttercup that was wedged between the slats of the track. It looked very stuck. 

“Come on, let’s get her out and back to Kidd,” Kincaid said as she walked over to it. She squatted down to get a better look at it. She got ahold of it and pulled, but the toy remained firmly in place.

“How the hell did it even get up here at all?” Gage asked. It wasn’t as if they would have put it on the roller coaster track before the war. That sounded below the minimum safety standard of the time.

“Bet she got spooked during a bad storm,” Kincaid said, her tone entirely too serious as she tried to free the thing. He wasn’t sure why he asked. With one last, great pull, Kincaid failed to free the little giddyup but stumbled because of the follow-through. He put an arm around her to steady her and keep her from falling off the edge of the track.

“You know my sister woulda loved having one of these,” he said, more to himself than to her. “Parents probably got her one too, at some point.”

“You have a sister?” Kincaid asked. She looked up at him intently, but he ignored her.

“At one point, yeah,” he said. He kinda hoped she didn’t ask him about it further. He hadn’t even really meant to say it out loud. 

“What happened to her?” Kincaid asked as she righted herself and went around to the other side of the horse again. She started trying to see if she could untangle the legs.

“Nothin’ far as I know. I left before she was older,” Gage said, crouching down beside the bright yellow horse. He now understood why there were members of the Pack who would shout ‘how many Buttercups, Gage!?’ at him when he walked past. His armor was almost the same damn shade.

He grabbed it by the head and gave it an experimental pull. It didn’t budge so he put some more force into it. He pulled harder and harder as Kincaid tugged on the legs. He felt something give, so he widened his stance and adjusted his grip on the hot metal. 

With one massive tug, the horse sprang free, or at least Gage thought it had. In reality, the head popped right off and Gage fell backward. As he fell it felt like he was in slow motion. This was how he died, pulling a head off of a children’s toy. The ground would rush up to meet him, and he’d crack against the dust and gravel of Dry Rock. 

His back hit not-wood and he let out a gasp, staring up at the sky. He wasn’t dead, he hadn’t fallen off the tracks, and he was clutching a yellow pony’s head in his hands. Kincaid came into his field of view and stared down at him.

For a moment, he wondered if he did die. She was backlit by the sunlight, her pink hair like a halo made from the very light of the dawn. Gage was breathless, all he could do is stare. 

“Porter?” Kincaid asked softly, tilting her head. “You ok?”

He nodded, not trusting his voice not to waver. 

“You gonna stay down there for a minute?” she asked, he nodded again. That seemed to satisfy her, and she moved to lay down next to him. He didn’t even mind her elbow in his side as she settled in beside him. She laid her head back against his shoulder and let out a soft little sigh. 

Gage looked over at her. 

For a moment, she was the entire world. The only thing that mattered. 

But, then he remembered. She was a lesbian. They’d never be together. She’d never see him the way he saw her.

He looked down at the head in his hands, letting out a huff. She looked over at him and quirked an eyebrow. 

“You think he’ll accept just a head boss?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this week is double trouble. not only did we get a new chapter out, Lilly also rewrote chapter 4, hit 10k, and so made a new chapter 5. Go give it a looksie if it tickles your fancy, the fluff is to die for.


	24. Come a Little Bit Closer

They rounded up them Giddy-ups like the cowboys Kincaid insisted they were. No matter how much Gage reminded her they were not, in fact, cowboys.

One was stuck in a bush, the other shoved into a trash can, another was hiding on top of one of the kiosks, one was tucked away in a corner defended by a ton of ants. Jesus, Gage hated ants. There was no goddamn reason that bugs should have gotten as big as they got after the war. What he wouldn’t do for some regular sized ants, like the ones shown in them pre-war school books his parents had gathered for his sister. 

He’d love those little tiny ants, if only because they could be crushed under his steel-toed boot.

They tossed the head of the last Giddy-up into the corral, the one they collected first, but didn’t bother returning, just in case the stupid protectron in its equally stupid hat didn’t accept it. 

Gage really didn’t want to have to climb up there and get the rest of that thing unstuck. Not that he feared heights or nothin’. He actually felt real safe up high. No, the problem was instead that they’d have to break some of the coaster to get at the thing and he didn’t want to make it any more rickety than it already was.

Gage sipped a flat Nuka-Orange, which was warm and disgusting, but drinkable. Better than the other flavors at least. He’d have taken water over that shit, but they didn’t have a lot on them, and he didn’t want to waste it right off the bat. Wouldn’t mind it, though. It was hot as shit outside today. He watched Kincaid barter with the Giddy-up Kid as he drank, trying to convince it that the head was the entire Buttercup. 

It had already accepted the damn head, but Kincaid had a whole ass speech prepared about how it was the entire pony and god willing she was gonna get it out. 

Gage poured out the rest of his orange soda before pulling out his cigs. He slipped one between his lips, letting the familiarity calm his nerves. He didn't dare light it, but having the filter between his lips felt right. They hadn’t seen hide nor hair of any big bloodworms. Only little ones that were easy to squish. He didn’t like it, because there was no way in hell that the molerats had managed to wipe out the entire colony.

No, they had to be in the depths of that coaster, waiting, getting bigger and feeding on each other until the doors opened and they burst out ready to consume flesh and be little assholes. Gage could just see it, Kincaid getting grabbed again and pulled under, deeper and deeper until there was no chance for her to escape. The worms would pull her to their queen, which was probably this massive writhing thing, and she’d be ripped apart, limb from limb, and he’d be alone again. She’d die screaming and he’d lose the one god damn person who gave any fuckin’ shit about him and then-

Mason leaned forward, lighter in hand. “Care for a light?” he asked, his face pulled into a big ole smile. Gage’s train of thought came to a screeching halt. He stared at Mason, who just raised his eyebrow. “You just gonna sit there and stare at me, or you gonna light your cig?” Mason asked. 

It was a trap. Gage knew it.

“You think I’m a fool?” Gage asked and Mason howled with laughter. “I’m still walkin’ around stinkin’ of prewar chemicals and shit,” Gage complained as he pulled on the collar of his still greasy tank top. Mason probably assumed Gage didn’t mind feeling greasy, as most people assumed he was just another dirty raider. But Gage hated it on his skin. He could deal with dust, he could deal with smoke, but grease? Or god forbid, sticky shit?

No thanks.

The foam of the fire retardant may have dried down more or less clear, but it still felt gross. He really needed to figure out something to change into. The hot sun beating down on him sure as shit wasn’t helping things, either. Just made him feel all the greasier. Disgusting. 

Kincaid came sauntering up over to them, her thumbs hooked in her belt. “Well, pardners, we got our first piece of the code!” she held up a little slip of paper, printed with three numbers. Gage snatched it from her and rolled his unlit cig to the other side of his mouth.

“Aight, where to next?” Gage asked as he tucked his cig behind his ear. The paper read ‘42Q.’ There were three slips of paper with codes, and those codes could only be arranged in so many ways, hell, since it was for kids it might not even matter what order they were in, so long as they had the paper. Kincaid slipped it into a little compartment on her pip-boy and pointed down the road towards a cluster of western buildings.

“To the saloon!” Kincaid commanded, pointing to the biggest of the buildings. Gage stared at it, and then at Kincaid.

“You know they ain’t gonna have anything to drink there, right?” he asked and she laughed. He wasn’t sure she understood, but fuck it. If they were doing the treasure hunt, he might as well play along for her sake. 

Besides, he really liked that laugh.

Though the next little game on their hunt was just running a dumb errand for the stupid protectron owner of an equally stupid little fake saloon. It wanted them to deliver drinks to corpses, literal corpses that were nothing more than skeletons and scraps of clothing. While Kincaid was focused on that, Gage thought he had a moment to try to find something to change in to. His pants didn’t get the worst of the fire retardant, and he couldn’t feel it through the leather anyways, but he really needed a different shirt. Hopefully something without a big logo, or a giant picture of Cappy on the front. He poked through one of the gift shops, and all the men’s shirts were too large, but he could deal with that in the short term. He tossed one option after another aside for all sorts of reasons before he pulled out a plaid printed flannel that was surprisingly soft for its age. It’d been tucked in the bottom of a pile, and he could see why it had been passed over back in the day.

Like the obnoxious pink flannel that Kincaid found for herself earlier, this was bright, almost neon, yellow plaid with black as the relief color that just made the yellow all the brighter. Gage sighed as looked at the other options he’d picked through and discarded. He pulled off his gross tank top and stuffed as much of it in his back pocket as he could, letting the excess material hang out, and pulled on the button-up shirt. He didn’t like shirts with a proper collar, or sleeves for that matter, but it couldn’t be helped right this second. At least it didn’t hang too loosely around his shoulders or too long past his wrists.

When he poked his head out of the gift shop along the row of buildings, Kincaid was still mucking around in the saloon. He leaned against the door just as Kincaid was accepting a second slip of paper with the next part of the code on it. She turned around to leave and a bright smile slid over her face when she saw him standing in the doorway.

“You look like a bumblebee in that,” Mason said, but Kincaid slapped his arm playfully and scoffed. 

“And you look like a melted box of crayons, you fuckin’ asshole,” Gage retorted. Mason opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but Kincaid stepped in before he could get whatever he was gonna say out. 

“I think Mr. Gage looks nice,” she said as if her opinion were objective fact. He ignored the way his heart twitterpated and he held out his hand. She let him see the paper and he filed away ‘A17’ in his mind before he handed it back to her so she could tuck it away too. “One left boys! Let’s go, our lil’ posse will have the treasure yet!” 

He wanted to inform her they were not in fact, cowboys. But the way she lit up every time she said ‘yeehaw’ or called the three of them a ‘posse’ made him pause. Instead, he waited until she had walked past him and a few steps down the road before he turned. 

“What is it they say in the holos?” Gage asked as he raised his hand in a finger gun at Kincaid. She turned to him and tilted her head, narrowing her eyes and raising a brow. “This town ain’t big enough for you and me.” Gage finished, but it wasn’t quite right. He wished he could remember how it went exactly. He was so busy trying to remember he almost didn’t hear Kincaid. 

“Why Mr. Gage, it’s like you stepped straight out of the Mojave, quoting old Westerns dressed like that,” she said. “It’s like you’re trying to seduce me.”

Wait. Did she just-? Did she want him to try and seduce her? Wasn’t she a lesbian? Was this a joke? Was this a pity thing? He couldn’t handle it if it was a pity thing. Oh god. Oh god, he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to make a pass but that was a invitation? Or was it a joke? He’d known lesbians who would joke like that, but this was Kincaid, Kincaid was so literal about everything. 

“Quit it, ya lovebirds,” Mason interrupted, and Gage was glad he did. He was too close to blurtin’ out a question that now sat heavy on his mind. Did she want him to seduce her? Why would she say that if she was a lesbian? None of it made sense and he didn’t need this distraction out here. The molerats had taken care of the worst of the bloodworms, but it had been long enough that more could have come out of the nest and he didn’t need to be distracted by the tangled knot of confusion that was Kincaid.

“On to One-Eyed Ike!” Kincaid said, pointing to a protectron down the road.

“I wanna do this one, boss!” Mason proclaimed as Kincaid watched him jog towards the protectron. She just smiled and then looked over at Gage. She looked at the ground, then back up at him.

She shifted, pulling something out of her bag. “You need something to complete the look.” She reached up and plopped a hat on his head, adjusting it for a second. She tilted her head and smiled, a little giggle escaping her. “Look at you, right proper cowboy now.”

She winked and Gage watched as she walked off. He hoped it was a sunburn heating his face; he hoped desperately that it was the sunburn.

Ignore that he didn't usually sunburn too bad. 

Yeah. He was gonna ignore it.

They made their way down to where Mason was arguing loudly with a protectron. “I hit you first! Fuckin’ cunt!” he shouted and kicked the protectron’s leg. “I won that fuckin’ duel fair and square!” Kincaid looked over at Gage, lookin’ an awful lot like she was gonna laugh. The protectron ignored him and kept going with his recording on giving Mason the option to try again. Gage was tempted to laugh too, but he knew better. Laughing now would just come back to bite him in the ass later.

The sun was high in the sky, and Gage wasn’t used to long sleeves, let along flannel with long sleeves. He was overheating like a chump stuck in a prewar car. He tugged on the cuffs to bunch up at his elbows. Kincaid just gave him a look and shook her head.

“Here, let me help you,” she said. She didn’t wait for him to respond and batted his hand away from the cuff. She pulled it down again and he stretched out his arm for her as she folded the cuff over. Her fingers lightly brushed his forearm as she carefully rolled his sleeve to his bicep, just above his elbow. She lightly drew her hands down his arm and gestured for him to extend his other one. He switched and brought the other arm up to her waiting hands. She repeated the process with that sleeve and he tried to pretend she didn’t affect him. Those light touches set his nerves on fire, so delicate and soft and unintentional. Her fingers were deft, nimble, and he found his brain wandering into dangerous waters. 

Just how nimble were those fingers?

Bad thoughts. Bad thoughts he shouldn’t be thinking. 

Kincaid looked up from his arm, her hands rested on his bicep, and she looked into his eye and everything just kinda fell away. She was so perfect, even with the wacky adventure she wanted them to play along with. He knew, somewhere deep down, that he just might follow this Overboss anywhere she wanted him to go. And holy fucking Jesus Christ did that scare him.

Gage cleared his throat and made himself look away. Those were dangerous thoughts. That was the kinda sentiment that would get him killed one day. He glanced over to where Mason was dealing with the protectron. It seemed like he’d tried at least twice again while they were distracted, but still hadn’t yet won the stupid game.

“One of you assholes try. I’m done with this,” Mason growled out. He turned back to the protectron and held up the little western-style revolver. “I’m keeping this!”

“I’ll give it a go,” Gage said. Kincaid grinned and nodded. He didn’t really want to, but he was a little bit of a faster shot than Caid and he just wanted this to be done with so they could clear the park and go home.

“Here, since Mason took the revolver for the game, use mine,” she said. From the holster on the hip, she pulled out her Synthetic Resolve and spun the chamber before handing it to him, handle side out. He looked down at the offered gun and shook his head. She never let anyone use that gun. She was pretty protective over her things, but that gun in particular never left her person if she could help it.

“I was just going to use my rifle,” Gage tried to argue, but Kincaid frowned and pushed the gun into his hand.

“Nonsense. You have to do this fairly.” Gage bit back the urge to remind her that he was a raider and rarely, if ever, did things fairly.

“You ready to slap iron and duel?” the protectron said in its monotone pre-recorded voice.

“My man will shoot your hat right on off, just you watch,” Kincaid told the protectron before patting Gage on the arm. Gage sighed and rubbed his face.

“Alright, let’s get this shit over with,” he said.

“All right, gunslinger. Let's take this out to the street,” the bot said, and Gage moved from where he had been standing off to the side with Caid to the open street. He hadn’t seen many old Westerns recently, but this was straight out of one his nan had liked watching. He waited while the bot slowly walked into place and turned to face him. “I count to three and then we draw. One, two, three, draw!”

Gage didn’t even wait until the thing had finished saying draw. He raised Synthetic Resolve, aimed straight for it stupid head, and shot. He knew it hit first because that one single shot knocked the thing right on its ass. A decent size hole was left in its head, breaking right through the faceplate. 

It wasn’t talking anymore. 

“You killed One-Eyed Ike!” gasped Mason sarcastically as he wandered over. “Killed him dead. Good job Porter,” he said as he knocked the powered down husk down. Kincaid just burst into laughter, leaning over and putting her hands on her knees. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, shaking her head. 

“There were twenty feet between them when they stopped to make their play.” Kincaid hummed as she crouched down beside the fallen protectron. Was she humming an old country ballad? Gage knew that song. He’d know it damn near anywhere. His family would sing a few old world songs like that by the fireside, and that was one of them. “And the swiftness of the ranger is still talked about today,” 

“Texas Red had not cleared leather, for the bullet fairly ripped,” Gage spoke softly, trying to remember the next line. Kincaid was looking up at him, her eyes bright. “And the ranger’s aim was deadly, with the big iron on hip.” A smile stretched across her face and she let out a soft little laugh. 

“Oh Mr. Gage, where did you learn to shoot like that?” Kincaid asked as she stood up. He shrugged before spinning her revolver and handing it back to her. 

“Practice, I s’pose,” Gage drawled, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops. “Told ya I was a decent shot when we first met.”

“One of your selling points, I remember, Mr. Gage!” Kincaid nudged him with a smile. “Along with a foul mouth and good company.” Kincaid flipped the paper around and Gage took a look at the text. 2K2. They had all the pieces, they just needed to remember where the stupid sheriff bot had told them the safe was. 

Then they could clear out the bloodworms and another park would be theirs. 

Easy. Probably. 

“So, back to the theater to grab the keys?” Kincaid asked. Gage sagged. The theater was all the way back at the entrance to the park. They had to walk all the way here, only to have to walk all the way back to the entrance to the park. It was too god damn hot, Gage didn't want to walk all the fuckin’ way back. He chewed on the idea of telling Kincaid to run back and he’d wait in one of the buildings, in the dark, where he wasn’t roasting alive.

On the other hand, inside the buildings, the air was as still as a fuckin’ tomb. The hot, sticky air without a breeze would probably kill him, figuratively. He chewed on his lip as he followed Kincaid, who seemed entirely unphased by the heat while he and Mason were both figuratively and literally melting, at least in the case of Mason’s face paint. How could she be like that? Last year around this time, Gage spent most of his free time laying on top of cold countertops, bitching at Colter for deciding to live up in Fizztop, where the heat just rose and got unbearable.

That was back before Colter got too fat and lazy though, back when they were friends. Back before-

Bad thoughts. Those were very bad thoughts. 

Gage instead focused on how uncomfortable he was currently. He dug around in his bag, trying to find water or something to splash on his face. Just a little bit, not enough to call it a waste. Surely he still had one of the almost empty bottles from earlier. The worst part was the fact it wasn’t a dry heat either, it was humid and heavy. Dry Rock might have been mimicking a desert, but there was that big ass reservoir to the east. Made the whole area humid, every single god damn summer. 

What he wouldn’t give to be in one of those cushy Commonwealth gangs, right by the ocean. The nice, cool ocean that kept shit from getting too hot. The only problem was that it rained a lot. He hated getting wet. But it’d be a nice and cold rain. A nice and cold rain that he could really use right about- 

His thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of something forcefully tugging on the tip of his boot. He recoiled for a moment, thinking a bloodworm had come out of the ground to grab him while he was unaware, but when he looked down, he saw an ant chewing and tugging at the metal plating on his boots. 

He snorted and lifted his boot in the air. The ant’s legs wriggled fervently as it was lifted in the air, but it didn’t let go, insisting on attacking the invader of their sacred nest. He shook his foot. No dice. He grinned and wound up his leg before kicking forward, sending the ant flying across the theater grounds and crashing into the metal bleachers with a surprisingly loud, solid thud. 

“GOAL!” shouted Mason, throwing his arms into the air. “And he gets a good three-pointer with that touchdown! Lovely form! Bravo! Superb!” he proclaimed, even doing a sarcastic little golf clap. Gage rolled his eye and Kincaid walked up beside him, spinning her revolver. 

“Looks like there’s a rival gang after our treasure, Mr. Gage,” Kincaid said gravely, looking over at Gage as she hooked her thumbs in her belt. “These are some dangerous men, Mr. Gage, a right affront to God and man, it’s our duty to wrangle them up and wipe them out, for the good ‘o’ the west.”

Gage looked at Kincaid and narrowed his eye, his nose scrunching up. “Boss, can you be normal for like- ten seconds?” he asked and she just laughed, that soft, gentle thing that made Gage’s spine feel like jelly. 

“Guess not,” he mumbled as she stepped forward and started picking off ants that were coming out of the nest. Kincaid twirled her revolver in hand, and shot off six shots in less then 3 seconds. Each one hit home, and before Gage knew it, she had reloaded. Just as quick she picked off the rest of the ants coming out of the nest, firing faster then Gage had thought was possible. That was some real fancy gun play. Gage rolled his eye. Christ, she was really playing this up, wasn’t she? 

“Looks like this gang wasn’t a match for us, Mr. Gage,” she looked over and tapped his arm. 

“Not us boss, that was all you,” Gage told her as he stepped around the now quiet nest. He made his way to the back, where the employees used to go and change out their shit. Gage scanned the room as he swung open the door.

No bugs, no ghouls, no disgruntled settlers.

“All clear,” Gage called as Kincaid walked up behind him. She poked her head in and took off her hat.

“Thank you kindly, Mr. Gage,” she said softly as she walked across the creaking floorboards. Gage watched her move, entranced for a moment until Mason pushed past him. 

“Fuck, Porter, you’re goddamned paranoid. There ain’t gonna be nothin’ in here. It ain’t like the worms let much more then ants and fuckin’ flies live in the park,” Mason complained as Kincaid knelt down by a safe in the corner. “Like honestly, you ain’t gotta worry about nothin’, ain’t shit all gonna burst out and-”

Gage felt it, under his boots, the rumble. He knew what to look for, they probably didn’t. Mason had mentioned something at some point about bein’ in a settlement, but who the fuck knew if he came from a place with bloodworms?

Gage moved close to the wall and crept over to Kincaid while Mason dug around in the lockers. Kincaid was plugging in the code but she paused as he got closer. “Boss, get up on the safe,” Gage warned as he moved up on the desk beside it. Kincaid watched him, still as death. Mason hadn’t taken notice of Gage’s warning and instead busied himself even further with looking for things of value. Guess he hadn’t been around bloodworms during his farm days, after all. 

Something must have clicked in Kincaid’s brain because she moved real slow, climbing up on the safe. Right as her boots left the floor, the worm burst past the floorboards. It wasn’t as big as the worms from before, but it was still bigger than the tiny shits they’d been crushing underfoot. 

It was satisfying, hearing Mason shriek like a little girl.

Gage peppered the worm with bullets as Mason crawled up the walls to get away from the worm. It was writhing pitifully on the floor, unable to gain traction, and proved to be easy pickings for Kincaid and Gage. Though Gage noticed it was particularly easy pickings for Kincaid. She damn near became a different person when that worm came out of the ground. Took out her BFR and fired off on it in one fluid, almost practiced looking ease. Her look was one of fearful but controlled concentration, her lips pursed into a thin line and her eyes locked on it with a cold stare. Mason stood stiff as a board on top of the locker he’d crawled on top of even long after the worm had stopped moving. 

“You can come down now, Mr. ‘You’re goddamned paranoid, Porter,” Gage said smugly. “The big bad worm ain’t gonna hurt ya.” 

The comment seemed to shake Mason from his stupor, as he looked down at Gage and scowled. 

“I could’ve taken it with my own bare hands,” Mason growled. “It just, got me by surprise, that’s all.” 

Gage and Kincaid exchanged a glance before looking back to Mason. 

“Riiight,” Gage said under his breath with a grin. “Really, though, we should get goin’. Get this shit done and out of the way.” 

“Yeah,” Kincaid piped up. “I would really like to not be pulled underground again, I got enough problems with tight spaces as is.” 

Mason took this as an opportunity to redeem his masculinity and hopped down from the locker with surprising grace for his size. He hit the ground with a heavy thud and Gage was reminded exactly how much of Mason’s bulk was actual muscle. 

“Oh, don’t you worry about a thing, Boss-Lady!” he said boisterously. “I’ll keep you safe. Ain’t no worms gettin’ past me after that last one.” 

He looked past Kincaid to Gage and squinted. “And I guess Gage can help, too. Once he’s done climbin’ on the furniture.” 

“Thanks for lettin’ me feel included, Mason,” Gage drawled with a roll of his eye. He wasn’t the one who shrieked like a little girl. Kincaid smiled nervously and nodded before cautiously getting off the safe. She stepped carefully over the ruined floorboards and the hole made from the worm’s entrance before kneeling down and fiddling with the last combo numbers to the safe’s door. 

Some mechanism clicked within the safe’s door and it opened to reveal, anticlimactically, a set of keys. Kincaid grabbed them and stuffed them in her pants’ pocket as she stood up.

“That’s it?” Mason scoffed. “Man, what is it with these places and not havin’ shit in ‘em?”

“This is a workplace establishment from before the war,” Gage grumbled. “Pretty commonplace for employees not havin’ shit for fuck,” Gage explained as he dug around in the desk. There weren’t any caps, he’d told Kincaid that. But she had fun he s’posed, that made it worth it. For him at least, Mason didn’t look too pleased.

Mason and Kincaid looked at each other confusedly because of Gage’s oddly somber sounding remark. He frowned.

“What? Haven’t you ever been in places like this?” Gage asked as he looked at the pair. “Don;t you know your history?” Kincaid shrugged. 

“I, uh, guess I just never looked that far into it? I mean I find and listen to the holos but most the time?” she responded after a moment, then shrugged. “In one ear and out the other. Dead peoples problems have rarely ever been mine. Save once o’ twice.” 

“Jesus,” Gage said as the trio began to move out of the safe room. “Well, the world was shit long ‘fore the bombs dropped. People worked soul suckin’ jobs like diggin’ rocks outta the ground or sitting at a desk and crunching numbers.”

“Like you?” Mason piped up, smacking Gage in the arm. Gage stared at him, raising an eyebrow. 

“No, not like me. See, I get to go out and raid and pillage and have all sortsa fun,” Gage started, keeping his eye locked on Mason. “These folks? They sat at a desk, for twelve hours’ a day, doin’ nothin’ but staring at a computer screen, six days a week. Seventh, they went to church and were told just how terrible they was as people, as the church do,” Gage explained, sticking his cig back in his mouth. Mason was staring at him with what looked like horror and revulsion on his face. 

“Gage,” Mason said after a few moments of awkward silence. “Where the fuck did that come from?” 

Gage looked to Mason for a moment, debating if he wanted to say anything, before simply shrugging and leaving it at that. Why not play the cryptic card? Could be fun for a little while. 

“Forbidden Gage lore,” Kincaid whispered, and Gage turned around and looked at her. He raised an eyebrow and she went silent, looking anywhere but him. That sounded like something that would have come out of Russell’s mouth. That was probably where she got it, too, if Gage spared a moment to think about it. 

He’d have to watch what he said around Caid, then. He didn’t want no-one knowing too much about him, and he almost treated Russell’s curiosity like a game. A game he was winning, exclusively. He wanted to keep it that way. 

They were quiet as they made their way towards the mine as the sun beat down on them mercilessly every time they stepped out of the shade. Mason’s face paint was looking less and less like a vibrant, decorative work, and more like someone smeared shit on his face. And Gage couldn’t lie, that thought made him laugh on the inside. Not the outside, though, because he didn’t want to get punched, but definitely on the inside.

Okay, he probably snorted, when he was sure Mason couldn’t hear him.

Kincaid, on the other hand, was looking fine. Not a drop of sweat could be found on her, to Gage’s confusion. How was she not sweating like hell, like the rest of them were? They were fucking roasting. Yet here she was, carrying her big ass back and thick ass coat, wearing her thick jeans and thigh high boots. Not a drop. 

Gage was envious, to say the least. 

A familiar beeping met them at the door to the mine, the bot weaving and swaying around the locked security gate. The big wrought iron doors loomed up above them, and Gage just stared up at them.

He was reminded briefly, of the gate to the church his family would go to, every Sunday, nine o'clock, on the dot. It was dry dirt and no grass there, too, empty and barren as families from nearby farms filed in, one by one. It filled him with the same sense of dread.

Kincaid walked up to the gates and unlocked them, letting them swing open with a loud creak. An almost unholy silence fell over them and seemed to wash over the rest of the park, too. Even ED-E’s jets seemed to grow quiet. A chill radiated from the faux mine, warning them away but beckoning them in all the same. Gage couldn’t repress a shiver. 

If there was anywhere that there were monsters, it was here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy! we're back on our bullshit, updatin' nice and on time this week! we also rewrote the first of the smut chapters, if you wanna go take a gander at that. might wanna brush up on yo fluff, because next week? oh boy. 
> 
> two chapters of fluff make up for whats about to happen, right? 
> 
> right?


	25. Let Me Live // Let Me Die

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: there's a fair bit of graphic imagery associated with the bloodworms. If that sort of thing bothers you, it might be worth skipping the next couple of chapters. We'll leave warnings on further chapters as necessary. Thank you!

The gates of hell swung open easily, at least, that’s what his family’s pastor had always told him. “Watch what you do, and watch what you say. Everyone gets their just desserts, be it in life, or in death,” said the old man, laying a hand on his adolescent shoulder. At the time, he was full of preteen rage, rage at the death of his nan, rage at the favoritism his parents showed his little sister, rage at the raiders that were coming by weekly to knock over their farm.

And wrath was a sin, so he was told.

He was never too good at being a good little boy. He hadn’t ever played well with other children his age, and he had too much of a temper to leave well enough alone. It was probably why he ran off when he did when he packed up and left everything he knew behind. He knew how the world worked. At least, he had thought so at twelve years old. He learned real quick it was not the case, but he was too damn proud to admit it.

Becoming a raider had just fit. It fit like a glove that he never took off. Sure, he’d run scams where he’d claimed he’d gone legit, but it was never anything serious. And he always got away before the consequences reared their ugly heads. He was proud of the fact he had lasted as long as he did.

Pride was also a sin, but he didn’t worry too much about that one.

He liked to think he’d accomplished something just by getting to the age he had. He’d only known one other raider who’d lasted this long, and as far as he knew she was long dead. Somewhere in a ditch probably, face down and rotting like a corpse.

He’d probably join her, if not sooner rather than later.

When they first entered the depths of the Mad Mulligan’s Mine coaster. It was a blessed chill, a reprieve from the heat and the humid air. There was a lingering stench that made Kincaid crinkle her nose, but it wasn’t nothing Gage wasn’t familiar with. And he was pretty sure Mason’s nose was entirely for show anyway if the stench of the Zoo was anything to go by.

As they got deeper, they saw things moving around, just on the edge of their light. Things skittered away, stared at them from the shadows, made their skin crawl. They saw things too big to be bloodworms, skittering and moving away in unnatural motions, things writhing under their skin, eyes dead and reflecting the shards of light from ED-E’s torch.

Then they saw it.

It was a brahmin, one of those rare bastards with only one head. Its eyes were glassy as it stared at them, its mouth hanging limp. It shuddered when it moved, and it shifted as if to get a better look at them, but the head didn’t move, and the eyes didn’t track anything. It was uncanny and Gage couldn’t look away. As he stared at it, he realized chunks of skin and fur had been torn away from its body. He could see muscle and bone in places. Now that he stopped long enough to look at it, the smell hit him worse and the stench of rotting meat was nearly enough to make him gag. It took another shambling step and Gage realized it had one head because the second had been chewed away, and the leftover pieces of rotting skin and sinew were hanging limp from its second neck.

There was no way that thing was alive. It looked ahead, but it didn’t blink. It moved, took steps forward, but the muscles didn’t move, didn’t stretch and contract like muscles were supposed to do-

It didn’t breathe either.

It took a heavy step towards them and its skin pulsated in a facsimile of breathing like a thousand maggots were just below the surface. Gage realized that was likely the case, and watched in horror as it put its head down like it was going to charge. Gage tried to warn Kincaid and Mason, but Mason just squared his stance and gripped his sledge tighter. That was fine; it was his funeral. Gage didn’t care about Mason, he cared about Kincaid. He tried to get her attention at first, quiet as to not anger the shambling brahmin, but when she didn’t acknowledge him, he moved closer.

“Boss. boss we gotta move,” Gage growled low, tapping her arm frantically. But her eyes were locked on the shambling horror ahead of them as it pawed the ground. “Kincaid! We. Need. To. Move. Now,” Gage grit out, but still Kincaid did not respond, she just stared ahead in horror as the brahmin started to charge. Her hands were tight around her revolver, the tip quivering.

Son of a fucking bitch.

Gage grabbed her by the bicep and pulled hard, yanking her away from Mason and ED-E. That brought her out of her stupor and she twisted around with a feral shriek. She hit Gage across his face with the handle of her gun in panic. Gage could feel the impact split his cheek and the hot blood ran down his face. He slapped a hand over the wound to keep the blood from spilling in the dirt too bad and pulled her close to his chest and pressed her against the wall, tucking his head as Mason’s sledge connected with the rotting flesh.

For a moment, he couldn’t hear anything, Kincaid’s screams echoed in his ears and left them ringing. He felt the flesh hit his back, felt the adolescent worms squirm around his boots. He could handle little worms and rotting flesh, but that wasn’t the worst of it though.

The worst was Mason, covered in tiny squirming little leech-like worms, trying to burrow into his unarmored flesh. Gage couldn’t hear Mason screaming over the ringing, but he could see it. He was screaming and trying to pull them off by hand, pulling desperately on slimy squirming forms. Poor bastard. Gage shoved off the wall and he could feel himself talking, but he couldn’t hear it.

“ED-E! Use your lasers and burn the fuckers off!” At least, that was what he was pretty sure he said. He sprayed his rifle, scattering the squirming little things at his feet. These were too small to leave eggs, thank their fuckin’ luck, but their little teeth still burrowed and searched for blood and a new host, for something new to pilot around.

Maybe the flamers weren’t such a bad idea after all. Still would’ve been a mess, but it would have been a mess they could deal with. It would have been a mess they could clean up later.

ED-E, thankfully, was a robot and did not panic at the sight of bugs. It just started cutting away the worms squirming across Mason’s flesh as the alpha sobbed and tried in vain to free himself.

“Next time! Use a fuckin’ god damned gun!” Gage groused. It was probably slurred, considering he couldn’t hear himself. “Distance is gonna save your fuckin’ life! You can’t just hit everything and expect it to be fucking ok!” Gage snarled. He couldn’t hear himself over the ringing still in his ears, and he wasn’t sure Mason heard him either, but it made him feel better to say it.

Slowly, his hearing returned, thank fucking baby Jesus and all them saints he couldn’t remember. He couldn’t afford to be half blind and half deaf.

His hearing crept back up on him though, Kincaid was sobbing. He could hear her now, behind him. She sounded almost like a small child, left alone in the middle of an unknown field. He turned to her and for a moment his heart broke. She had crawled up the little fence that was supposed to keep customers in line, and perched on it like an oversized cat. She clung to it for dear life, swaying slightly as she hiccuped. Synthetic Resolve was discarded in the dirt, with maggots squirming around in the sand around the gun.

Gage walked over and methodically crushed most of the bloodworm larvae with his boot before dipping down and picking up the pistol. He offered it back to Kincaid, who teetered precariously on the not-wood of the fence.

Kincaid pitched forward and Gage had only a split second to brace himself before she threw herself headlong into his arms. She tucked her head into his shoulder and her arms became vice-like around his chest, her entire body heaving with sobs. She clung to him like a scared child, and for a moment, Gage didn’t know what to do. She was the Overboss, she was supposed to be fearless and scary and intimidating.

But right now?

She was vulnerable. She was afraid and crying and she was seeking him out. He gently and awkwardly wrapped his arms around her and let her cry. Gage stayed still, even as Mason shuddered and fussed as the now cleared wounds on his skin. Gage stayed still even as Mason looked up at the two of them. He ignored the larger man and just let Kincaid get whatever she needed to get out. He gently rubbed at her back, just like his nan used to do with him when he had a bad dream as a child. It was a quiet moment, a tender moment, not fit for the depths of this blood-soaked hell.

But god fucking damn, did Gage cherish it.

“I think the hummingbird was right,” Mason choked out. His voice was rough as he rubbed the agitated bites that were peppered across his skin. “I think I’m gonna go get flamers.” He gave a little nod and took a step back. Gage watched him as he gently rubbed the back of Kincaid’s neck.

“Wait,” Gage said lowly, and Mason turned to him. He’d never seen the alpha come anywhere close to this. He’d never seen Mason cower, or cry, or scream in anything other than bloodied rage. It was unnerving and got right under his skin. He almost pitied the alpha. Almost.

Gage used one hand to dig around in his rucksack for a moment, Mason watching him in silence. Gage procured a stimpack, and held it out to the alpha. Mason stared at the stim for a second and gave Gage one long suspicious glance before he gingerly plucked it out of Gage’s hand.

He licked his lips and injected it into the meat of his arm, shivering as the medication took hold. Instantly the welts and bites started to heal, closing up quickly.

“Thanks, Porter,” he said quietly as he tossed aside the spent stim. “If ya’ll are dead by the time I get back, I’m Overboss.”

Still tucked against his chest, he heard Kincaid laugh through her tears, and Gage decided not to shoot the fucker for it. Next time.

ED-E beeped a little chirpy laugh and Gage glared at the little bot. He’d shoot it in a heartbeat, if he wasn’t so sure Kincaid would shoot him back for it.

“Yeah, I’d like to see you try,” Gage countered as Mason walked back out the doors to the outside world. He glanced down at her and it looked like she’d stopped crying. He shifted to let her go if she wanted to, but Caid held tighter. She sniffled against him a moment longer before she stood on her own.

“That was,” Kincaid started, but she paused like there were no words to describe what they’d seen and Gage didn’t blame her. The terror on her face said everything though.

“Bad,” Gage finished for her and she nodded.

“Real bad,” she whispered, voice hoarse. ED-E beeped in agreement.

“We can wait here until Mason gets back with the flamers, or we can keep going and see what we can do without them,” Gage said. He’d feel better if they had a solid plan. He didn’t like the idea of sitting and letting those bloodsuckers come to them, but at least it would be a plan. Not every plan was a masterpiece anyway.

With Kincaid, sometimes the plan was just ‘try not to die’. He felt like it was going to be one of those sorts of days. Oh well, at least they’d have a plan, barebones as it was.

“We need to keep moving,” Kincaid said. “We stay here and we’re dead. We leave and they’ll just multiply,” She stood taller, her back straight and shoulders tensed more than he’d ever seen. “We’ll take out what we can and then burn the rest when Mason gets back.”

Gage nodded. It wasn’t the most ideal of plans, but neither options were good ones. He held Synthetic Resolve out to her again and she took it this time. Her knuckles went white around the revolver’s handle. She chewed on her bottom lip and stared blankly at the gore that speckled the gun.

“It helps to get ‘em from a distance. That way we can pick off the big ones before they get too close and the little ones can’t go flying at us,” Gage told her. “They can’t move too fast, so if one gets too close, we can retreat enough to get some distance before we shoot. Only fuckers we gotta worry about are the burrowing adults, and there’s a helluva lot less of them thanks to Mason’s rats.”

Kincaid nodded, but he wasn’t sure she heard him. He hoped to fuck and back that she actually did. The last thing he wanted was for her to panic again. Panic would only get them killed.

He took a moment to look her over, make sure she wasn’t bleeding. Blood on the dirt would just call the worms to them like flies to a corpse. She looked mostly fine, no open wounds. She was quivering like a scared school girl still, but, an unharmed one. That was good. When he determined she was ok, he dug around in his own pack and pulled out a bandage.

“Caid?” he asked softly and she turned to him with eyes wide like dinner plates. “Can I get a little help? I ain’t got a mirror or nothin’ and we can’t let blood hit the dirt.” Gage asked quietly, and for a moment he could see Kincaid just staring at him, processing how he would have gotten the welt forming across his cheek.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry,” Kincaid whispered, instantly at his side with a little pink kerchief to wipe up the mess. “I am so sorry, I panicked and hit you, didn’t I? Oh, Gage.” She sighed and blotted his cheek gently.

“It happens, Boss. Nothin’ to be sorry over,” Gage assured her as he stood there awkwardly still, waiting for her to finish. She swiped across it and Gage resisted the urge to flinch, the sensation of her thumb feeling weird against his cheek. She took the bandage from his hands and pressed it gently against his skin, letting the adhesive take hold. It was gonna be a bitch to remove with his stubble, but at least they wouldn’t attract unwanted attention now.

“Got a hell of an arm on you, by the way,” Gage told her to try and lighten the mood. “Helluva set of lungs too. Thought that scream you let out was gonna leave me half deaf.” Gage chuckled and Kincaid tilted her head.

“I’m sorry Gage.” She sighed again and Gage frowned. He wanted her to chuckle, to find it as amusing as he did. He wanted her to feel better. She turned from him and he felt his chest ache. She went to her bag, which was hooked up to ED-E, and pulled out some canned water.

“Here, drink,” Kincaid ordered, cracking the top and handing it to Gage. He did as he was told, and promptly turned away from her as she changed out of her skimpy little flannel and put on her thick leather coat. Gage wished he had one like it, the worms would have a hard time chewing through the thick leather and ceramic plating of her armor, but for once he was glad he had long sleeves, at least.

What he wouldn’t have given for a set of that armor, though.

“Gage,” he looked up as Kincaid tossed him something. He caught it mid-air and stared down at the jacket now in his free hand. “I’ve been meaning to give this to you, but I kept forgetting it was in the bottom of my bag and it ain’t been cold enough to actually need it. But it’ll keep their teeth off your arms,” Kincaid said as she pulled her curls back. Gage watched her dumbfounded as she tied her hair into a sloppy bun, then slipped on a helmet. It matched up with the ceramic armor and had a matching faceplate that had glowing eyes. They flickered from green to red, the light glowing dimly in the darkness.

“You’ll have to rely on ED-E, but this way we aren’t both packed too tight together,” Kincaid explained. Her voice came out altered with some sort of modulator that made her voice sound very deep. Gage looked away from her and down to the leather jacket in his hands. It was a bomber jacket, leather with a fur trim around the neck. The leather looked like it had been maintained well. It was conditioned enough that it felt soft in his fingers. He tossed aside the emptied can of water and slid it on. It fit him well, and he didn’t feel restrained by it. He adjusted his pack and his rifle’s strap before checking over the rest of his weapons.

“You ready?” Kincaid asked, and with a nod, they set off. She moved differently now, as though a switch had flipped in her head. It was tactical and reminded him of watching her months ago in the Gauntlet. It wasn’t the relaxed air of confidence; there were no flourishes. There was no humor. It was like she was part of a private military.

And he just had the privilege of working with her.

They slunk down the twisting halls of the rollercoaster. They got near the gift shops, lit dimly by backup generators and soft fluorescent lights. Kincaid’s hand shot up, and Gage paused. In the light just ahead there was a person shaped thing, shambling around. It moved with stuttering, jerky, motions. It was once human, Gage was sure of that. It had on flannel uncomfortably close in design to what Gage was wearing, the bright yellow obvious in the fluorescent lights.

Its mouth hung open; its eyes missing from its skull. Occasionally, a worm would bubble out of its mouth only to fall to the floor and slither away. Gage watched it, he couldn’t tear his eye away as he resisted the urge to retch when he watched a larva squirm from one nostril to the other. It hid safely behind the skull of the poor chump.

Killing these things really was a mercy to whoever they had been before. Gage usually wasn’t much for mercy. Normally mercy got you nothing but an enemy that would come back for you, but this was one time he could make an exception.

All around it skittered worms, not quite adult but not quite larvae either. As Gage squinted at it, Kincaid held up 4 fingers. There were 4 of them then, just one of them in the light. They hadn’t attracted its attention yet, so they sat quietly as Kincaid adjusted her rifle. She swapped its traditional ammo for the power cell and set it to overcharge and burn. Gage pulled proximity mines and a belt of grenades from his ruck and tossed the mines, one by one, down the hall. He paused to listen to them become armed via soft beeps.

When they were sure they were prepared, Kincaid gave Gage a single gloved thumbs up before aiming down her rifle. There was no crack of sniper fire, as Gage had come to expect, but the hum of an agitator as blue particles soared down the hall to collide with the shambling horror. Its skin burned on contact. The thing let out an almost human, ghastly shriek before turning towards the source of its pain. It ran towards them. It must have died pretty recently because it was faster than Gage expected. Out of the shadows flowed three more, each clawing after each other, and after the fresh meat. They were slower and moved how Gage had expected. It was still unsettling to watch they moved as if they were almost human still.

Kincaid’s energy blasts didn’t pierce the rotted flesh, however, and just burned them away from the inside out. He could hear the squeal of burning maggots, and he could feel the rumble under his boots of angry adult worms. It was effective at least and kept the worms inside the festering corpses.

Gage backed up with Kincaid around a corner and waited for the horrors to meet his minefield.

It was satisfying to hear the first explosion rock the coaster, even as dust rained down on them from the cracks in the concrete above them. The second, third and fourth went off in quick succession as the sound of flesh hit the walls. Gage chanced a peek around the corner to see the horrors being vacated by immature larvae and semi-mature worms. There was still one zombie of a person left, just slow enough to avoid the worst of the explosion even though one side of it’s face was burnt to hell. He pulled the pin on one of the grenades and rolled it down the hall as Kincaid worked on reloading her rifle. He ducked back around the corner to avoid the splatter, but the sound of the pop of the frag and the squelch of flesh being ripped apart was god awful satisfying to hear.

The rumble under their boots got louder, closer and closer. Kincaid could feel it too. Gage could tell from how she looked down and was careful where she stepped. They didn’t even exchange the briefest of glances but they both moved apart. Only a moment later, a monster of a worm burst out of the ground between them. It squirmed through the air and gnashed at anything that might have gotten caught in its jaws. It only caught dirt, but if they had waited just ten seconds to move, it could easily have been one of them.

Kincaid whipped out Resolve and peppered the worm’s flesh with bullets. Gage stepped back as to not get caught in her crossfire before he steadied his own rifle and released a volley of bullets himself. It turned to him as he shot; its mandibles agape as it tried to lash out at the source of its discomfort. If he forced himself to be honest about the situation, with a worm that big? That’s all bullets were gonna be. They, and he, were just a minor discomfort.

God, they should have brought the fuckin’ flamers.

He was never going to live that down if Mason ever got back with them. If Kincaid didn’t give him shit about this for the rest of his life he’d consider it a blessing. He might even let her get in one ‘I told you so’ before he told her to quit it.

O’course, it was just as likely they weren’t gonna make it out of here. But those were bad thoughts, bad thoughts Gage shoved away as he peppered the hard carapace of the worm with bullets. None of them broke the flesh like it did with the smaller worms. The thing hit the ground and burrowed again, charging underground and away from their hailstorm of lead.

Gage took a step back, feeling the rumble beneath him still. There must have been several burrowing around, based on how the dirt quivered. Kincaid had her pistol aimed at the dirt. They waited, and waited, and waited.

Gage was gettin’ real sick and tired of the sensation of falling.

He scrambled to grab something, anything, and Kincaid dove for him. He felt the tips of her fingers brush his before they slipped away like smoke. It was like time froze for a moment, and even with the faceplate he could feel the terror radiate off of her.

And then she was gone. His world was black, it was dirt in his mouth, in his nose, in his eyes.

He held his breath for as long as he could, as he was whipped through the dirt like a little girl whips around her cloth dolly. There were rocks mixed in, but the jacket Kincaid had gave him, along with the leather of his pants, had helped protect him from the worst of it. When he resurfaced he was tossed into a pile of something soft, something- sticky. He sank into it and coughed, spitting out mouthfuls of soil.

The smell hit him first. He had smelled it a little when they first entered the building, but this made his eyes water. He managed to roll enough so he didn’t puke all over himself. He couldn’t stop the heave if he tried, and he didn’t have a second to try.

The sensation of that morning’s breakfast making it past his tonsils only made him retch worse, as did the realization he was laying in the center of a brahmin corpse. He’d fallen right into the stomach and when he pulled back he had intestines tangled into his fingers. He wheezed and recoiled. He yanked his hands away and the force had him fall backward, next to the lifeless body of some poor Pack Animal who had been dead for no less than a week. The poor bastard still had most of his face paint intact, far better than Mason’s smeared mess the last time Gage saw him.

He’d been around death for most of his life. When he wasn’t a raider, he was a caravaneer, and before that his family raised animals. He was familiar with death. It wasn’t something to fear. But this?

The stench was unbearable. The rotting flesh far beat out the disgusting little hole of the Disciples. It beat out when his family’s cows would die of famine, and they wouldn’t get to the bodies until a day later after the maggots had laid their claim and the crows had gotten loud. It was worse than traders strung out to dry in the summer sun when they wanted to send a warning to others not to cross the Nuka-World Raiders.

And he was covered in it, from head to foot. The slime of rotting refuse was squeezed between his fingers, in the crooks of his elbows, behind his knees. He could feel the slick in his scalp, trying to worm its way into his nose, his mouth, his eye. He tried to scrape the gore from his face, his nails scraping furrows down his cheeks. As he thrashed in the pile of dead bodies, a singular thing rose from the center of the room. Its massive mandibled head swerved around to see him, the rows upon rows of teeth glinting in the low fluorescent lights. It shouldn’t have been possible for these fuckers to feel emotion but Gage would swear on his life that its little beady eyes were filled with malice.

It was at least a solid forty feet long, its thick carapace was like hardened metal. Massive spines, easily big enough to impale him, jutted out from its hide. The corpses of molerats mongrels, people, and God knows what else decorated some of these spines, all at various stages of rot. Ants skittered across its back, tending to the corpses. Though it looked as though they had stopped at the Queen’s sudden interest in fresh meat. It twisted and turned, looming over him easily. It was wide enough Gage could easily imagine it swallowing a brahmin whole, not even having to chew. It twisted and regarded him with unsettling intelligence that threw Gage off guard. It rippled, almost like it was laughing. Its jaws clattered together. As it twisted around to get a better look at him, ants scurried out from around it. They swarmed and disappeared into the tunnels that dotted the walls.

The tracks to the coaster were gone under the bodies and the bugs. Most of the wood and metal was lost to the rot of time and corpse. There was no way in hell he was going to find his way out. there was no escape. It was just him, and the matriarch of the bloodworms.

Gage stared up at the thing. He thought he had accepted the reality of death a long time ago, and still, he stood with the final, deep knowledge that this would be how he would die.

This would be the punishment for his sins, many and varied over the years. The gaping maw of it’s mandible was a gate to hell made manifest, just like his pastor used to yell about. He should have known he was doomed to die alone, from the night he slipped out of his bedroom window in the farmhouse. It was inevitable that he would die here, in the dim lights of the shitty amusement park he tried so hard to claim. It wasn’t like he really regretted the path that had lead him here. If he had to, he’d probably do it all again. He’d chose, again and again, to run away from home and become the raider he was today. He’d probably pick someone other than Colter, but he wouldn’t change anything else.

But there was some part of him, latched down deep in his very soul, that knew the gates of hell swung open easily, and this very well might be his just desserts for the life he’d lived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters of fluff makes up for this right?
> 
> right?
> 
> : )


	26. Round & Round The Dancing Laundry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One Word.
> 
> Bloodworms.
> 
> As per the last chapter: 
> 
> Warning: there's a fair bit of graphic imagery associated with the bloodworms. If that sort of thing bothers you, it might be worth skipping the next couple of chapters. We'll leave warnings on further chapters as necessary. Thank you!

Gage missed spending his days in Fizztop. He missed the breeze on his face as he leaned against the railing on the patio. The air was never too rancid, and the view was to die for. When the sun set, the sky would burst into a canvas of color. Kincaid always loved the sunsets, and the two of them would watch them together. 

He missed the air on his face when he would lay up on the top of Fizztop, next to her on the shingled roof. 

She’d have her blanket all spread out on the roof, a little plate with even smaller crustless sandwiches between them. She’d point at the clouds and claim they looked like animals. He rarely saw it the way she did, but that never bothered her. She’d roll over and those pink curls would cascade down her shoulders as she leaned against her arm. “Don’tcha see it, Gage?” she’d ask, all playful like. She’d have a hand on his arm, or she’d run her thumb over his knuckles. 

God how he wanted to be the only person she ever looked at. 

He missed how she’d walk through Fizztop, in little boy shorts and a tank top with a basket against her hip as she picked up her discarded clothes. He’d lean back and watch her while he smoked his cig. She’s look over her shoulder and tilt her head, a laugh on her lips. “Aren’t you gonna help?” she’d ask him, and he’d make some excuse like ‘raiders don’t do laundry’ or some shit. And she’d laugh, oh how’d she would laugh. He’d still pad after her as she went down the stairs to the hotel’s little laundry room. It had taken some work to get the old machines running again, but she did it. She’d throw in both of their clothes into the machines, and then they’d just sit and watch the fabrics swirl in the wash. 

He’d share his smoke with her, and she’d blow smoke rings. She had tried to teach him how a few times, but he wasn’t really able to manage more than a puff or two. He wasn’t terribly worried about getting it anyways. It was quiet, domestic. They were safe, and for a few hours, the raiders outside didn’t exist. Just him. Just her. It was perfect, or as close to perfect as life got. She’d throw the clothes in the dryer and even Gage couldn’t resist shoving his face and humming against his favorite tank top, fresh out of the dryer all warm and smelling like her fancy soaps. 

Even the stains were starting to fade, much like the scars left by Colter. 

He wasn’t so sure these new scars were going to have a chance to fade, though.

His boots hit the corpses as he crawled over the piles of bodies. The blood and viscera coated him head to toe, soaking into his skin, into his clothes, and god, if he were a properly religious man he’d think it was soaking through to his soul. He couldn’t get proper handholds, he couldn’t keep a proper grip on anything as he desperately tried to run as the snap of jaws clattered just behind his heels. He dove headlong, trying to put a little bit of distance between himself and the matriarch. 

He hit the wall and the breath was knocked out of his lungs. He tried to kick away from ants, but his boots kept sinking into rib cages and slimy entrails. The gore splashed up and slithered its way down, even into the tightly laced leather that in any other situation he would say was skin tight. It was amazing how the definition changed the moment he felt rotten meat slide down the back of his boot. God, even though these innards were dead, it all still felt so warm and sticky. It was like he was trying to swim, but was struggling to keep his head above water. And this was water he would do anything not to sink into. 

Of course, trying to take the parks in the summer was the logical plan. The winter snow and bitter cold made it hard to get anything done on the best of days. So logically, he knew why they had to do it in the summer, but also-

He fucking hated how hot and sticky and humid it was, even in the bowels of a coaster. The flesh around him was still warm, like the bodies only stopped breathing recently. The smell alone was so much worse than the Disciples had ever managed, despite their best efforts. Jesus, it was damn near an affront to god, like hell itself had bubbled out of the earth. 

And of course Satan would decide a run down theme park was the perfect locale for a gate to the depths. Of course. Couldn’t get much worse than the sorts of pits of despair that the brilliant minds at Nuka Cola could think up. Satan could even take some pointers, probably. 

Gage hated them Nuka folks. Hated them with a passion. He’d only thought he hated them after dealing with Galaxy’s AI. He couldn’t wait to see what the other parks had in store.

If he made it that far, of course. 

Gage fell forward and rolled. He tucked his head in just as bloodworms shot overhead. He could feel the rush of air flow past him as they missed, hear the desperate clacking of their spiny little mandibles as they tried so hard to reach for their newest victim. He could feel the rumble in the corpses below him, the tell-tale sign of more ready to come out of the ground. The bodies bubbled with larvae and adolescents, who tried to rip apart his steel toed boots like bark beetles to old birch. He tried to crush them, shove them, do anything. The moment he focused on one bug though, is the moment that the ants would descend on him. 

The matriarch shrieked above him, frustrated at how much faster he moved than her. He shoved himself up and scrambled for purchase as he sank elbow deep into the corpse of an antelope. The splatter hit him in the face and he flinched away. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep this up, and he honestly couldn’t even sure Kincaid was coming. 

Why would she? They’d had some good times in the last three months sure, but he had to face the facts.

He trapped her here, in Nuka-World. She was a free spirit and he trapped her like a lightning bug in a jar. He never should have done it. He should have just cut and run like the coward he was. He could have run after Colter beat him down when everyone had thought he was dead, anyway. He could have made a break for the Commonwealth, he could have just hitched a ride with some group of traders. He could have headed out west with a caravan to new territory and find a new gang to join up with there. 

But he didn’t. Instead, he trapped her, here, with him. Here, where she was as likely to die a horrible death as he was. She was just as likely to get stabbed by Nisha, or shot to death by gunners, or ripped apart piece by piece and used to host the eggs of the most disgusting creature the wasteland had to offer. The thought of Kincaid among the bodies shook him to the core. It made his blood run cold, despite the heat. It was her eyes being all glassy as she laid there among the refuse, the idea of an ant tugging off the armor she wore as she twitched in time with the larvae under her skin. Gage tried to wipe the tears running down his cheeks but only succeeded in smearing his face with some poor critter’s torn up stomach. He wasn’t sure he could take that. He almost didn’t want her to swoop in and save his sorry ass, not if it led her to a fate like that. 

Sure, he deserved it. But she didn’t. 

He flicked the innards from his hands in disgust as he dodged another worm diving for him from above. This was going to turn him into a vegetarian if he made it out of here alive. He never could resist a brahmin steak on the stove, but it would be a good long while before he could have one without remembering the feeling of rotting meat squelching between his fingers as he crawled up a pile of putrid corpses. He considered this as he rolled out of the way of a particularly large ant. His eye burned because of the smell, and he could feel the visera on his bad side. He was pretty sure he lost his patch a ways back, and if he did have it on it was indistingishable from the gore that was caked onto his face. He didn’t have time to consider it as he hit the thin layer of packed dirt in the bottom of the cave. The actual dirt almost felt foreign under his fingers after how long he’d been navigating the Bloodworm refuse. 

Left him open though, for only but a second too long. He was hit by the Matriarch’s tail and was sent flying across the room before he slammed against a wall. Gage felt all the air leave his lungs and his head spin before the sharp pain in his arm registered. She’d thrown her spines and all around him, they were embedded into the not-wood set piece he had his back against. One of those spines were embedded in the flesh of his upper arm, pinning him in place. He grabbed at the barbed spike and tried to pull, but it was blood slicked and his hands were just as covered in gore too. It was in vain, and somewhere deep down inside of himself, he knew this. He knew it even as his head spun and made it hard to focus on getting a grip. He knew it as his free hand slipped and cut on one of the barbs that lined the spike. The warmth running down his palm matched the warmth he could feel running down the side of his head. 

His next instinct was to take his boot knife and saw at the spine until he could get his arm free. He tried hard to balance on just one foot until he could pry it out of the leather, and he made sure he had a damn good grip on it. His hand started to quiver though, but somehow he managed not to drop his knife in the dirt. His blade had a bit of a serrated edge, and he could only hope it was enough. It was difficult to get between himself and the wall to cut just the spine, but he could ignore the pain as long as it got him free. The angle was wrong, though, and the knife barely made a dent in the keratin. He tried to adjust to get a better grip before he was rushed, but nothing he changed seemed to help. He tried to push down the panic but his hand shook so bad, the next time he adjusted the handle, it slipped from his grasp. He glanced down, but it was as good as lost to him now along the pulsating bodies and stagnant pools of gore.

Well, if the spine was too deep in the wall and he couldn’t cut it, he could always pull away the flesh. He’d had done worse right? Right?

He wasn’t sure he’d done worse. The pain shot up through his arm and right into his core as he pulled on the spine. It was embedded in the muscle, and even throwing his weight to one side was entirely futile. He panted and wheezed as he tugged his arm to try and get it dislodged, but it did about as much to free him as the knife had. He only slid up the spine so far before the barbs caught in his skin and started tearing him up far worse than before. 

As he struggled, she and her brood descended on him. A cloud of something started to dissipate from giant, tumor-like growths behind her head, and Gage threw a hand over his mouth to keep himself from breathing it in. it didn’t work, but he tried right? When he tried to allivate the pull on his arm, his boots slipped on some poor sod’s blood-soaked clothes. He shifted a little and it forced him to put all the weight on his pinned arm and he couldn’t help the gasp that escaped him. He could feel the flesh of his arm tear, but not enough to free himself. The ants were all around his boots now, pulling and tugging on his legs every which way, trying to rip at the sturdy leather. 

Bloodworms were bubbling up in the corpses around him, squirming closer and closer. Gage kicked out, sending one of the bastards flying. It landed with a satisfying squelch and Gage snarled at it. He was peppered in bites and cuts and scrapes and the closer the worms got, the worse the wounds seemed to bleed. There was no damn way he was going to get out of this alive. This was how he died, in the dripping maw of a giant ass bloodworm. It would probably be easier to lay down and die, but Gage was never one for easy, was he?

Its mandibles snapped as it loomed closer, its beady eyes trained on him. Despite the feverish movements of the ants and worms around him, it all seemed so insignificant as she leaned in to get a better look at him. Gage could see her drool and it splattered across him, coating his skin like a film. He flinched away, trying to press himself closer to the not-wood against his back. He felt the worms grabbing his leather-clad legs, chewing holes into his favorite pants as they burrowed, trying to find flesh to lay their eggs in. he could feel the larvae digging into him, squirming just below the skin and ripping their way through his muscles to find a suitable place to hide. 

He was going become one of those shambling horrors, filled to the brim with her brood like an overfilled bucket. Some poor fuck would shoot him and he’d pop. He wouldn’t be alive at that point. Least, he hoped so. God, he hoped he wasn’t. He didn’t want to be like that shambling creature in the yellow flannel, wandering around in the dark halls of the coaster, searching for something to eat, something to kill, something to alleviate the squirming under its skin. He didn’t want dead eyes and pulsating skin, he wanted freedom and his guns and Kincaid. He wanted Kincaid. He’d rather be dead then loose that. 

He didn’t want to die though, not really. 

He wanted more laundry days with Kincaid, more afternoons and midnights with Kincaid on top of Fizztop, more lunches and weird little picnics. He wanted to sit next to her, her head on his shoulder as they watched the tumbling colors and suds in old prewar washing machines. He wanted to help her shake out her favorite quilt, folding it up for her next picnic. He wanted to go out west to the Mojave with her, see the land roll out ahead of them. Just them, just the two of them. He didn’t need Nuka World, or caps, or anything. He just wanted to be with her. He didn’t care she was a lesbian, being her friend was more than enough. Of course, karma had decided otherwise. But he could dream in his last moments right? 

He could dream of her petal soft lips against his lips, against the flesh that covered his empty eye socket. He could imagine her soft hands finding his, the fingers laced together like puzzle pieces that fit. He could imagine those pretty little lacy dresses, with the stockings that had a seam up the back of her calves. Hell, he could even imagine the late nights, sitting together while she reads comics, curled up in his lap and sharing his cigarette. He could see the smoke rings and how her shoulders shook with her gentle little laughter.

Hell, if he was going to die here- he could fantasize about running his hands up under those pretty dresses, he could dream of dipping down and kissing her lips, her neck, her collarbones. He could imagine how she’d feel next to him, late into the night, so warm against him as they both slept safe and sound. He could imagine her, the way she would look up at him and bat those eyelashes. He could just imagine peppering kisses all over her brow as his hands explored every part of her. 

He could imagine it, because he was never going to live it. He was going to die here, alone, in the dark. He would just add to the pile of corpses, another nameless face for the worms to tear apart and make their own. 

“Let him go, you rancid son of a bitch!” her voice cut through the squelching beasts, and for a moment he was hot. Burning hot, like he was hit with a flamer directly. The gore on his face sizzled and he sank against the wall he was pinned to. He tried to shield his face but he was finding it harder and harder to move his limbs. 

He was so fucking tired. His body felt like it was made of lead, and he wasn’t even sure he could feel his arm anymore. He tried in vain to get his boots back under him, but it was no use, every motion was slick, and he ended up just pulling on his pinned arm worse. He instead turned his focus to Kincaid, and to the Pack Animals all around her. He had to be imagining her, and them. It had to be a hallucination to be a comfort to his fading mind in the last moments before his death.

The worms were screaming, at least, he thought so. There was fire, and the rancid smell of burning flesh. They were all equipped with flamers and Molotovs, and worms were trying to retreat to their tunnels. Rats, however, were pouring out of the walls and burrowing out the ground. They weren’t the big ones, not like Queenie, but they were still going after the worms and ants that were trying to flee. 

Gage’s world was starting to go dark, and all he could hear was the pounding of his heart in his ears. He sank down, and as his vision started to go he saw ED-E coming up closer. It was making noises he was sure, but fuck if he knew what the hell they were. He had to focus on breathing, on staying awake. ED-E’s laser made short work of the matriarch’s spine, and Gage dropped like a sack of potatoes to the corpses below. 

He felt an awful lot like he fit right in among them. ED-E apparently was not having it though and grabbed at his coat. It started to pull him and Gage tried hard to get his feet under himself. He wrapped his good arm around the bot, who slowly ascended to help him stand. 

“I can’t leave him down there!” Kincaid’s voice bubbled out of the grainy speakers, cracking and desperate. Gage looked at the bot and ED-E just tilted its chassis slightly. It was like it was mimicking Kincaid. “Alright, cowboy-” Gage sagged against ED-E and let out a little laugh. It came out a bit like a sob, but Gage didn’t really have the energy to care. He stumbled along, the fire and bullets of Caid’s little war party nothing but a buzzing in his ears as ED-E guided him towards the newly cleared exit. 

Every step was hard and felt like it took forever, and as his head sagged he could see the trail of blood he was leaving. 

“I don’t think I’m gonna make it.” Gage’s voice came out a hoarse whisper, and ED-E beeped in alarm. It beeped at him and when Gage didn’t respond, it shrieked. Soon the shrieks became alarm like, pulsing and jolting through Gage’s head. Gage winced away from the bot, unable to cover his ears from the car alarm like noise emanating from it. It made his stomach churn, and his head swim. He could feel the migraine coming on and honestly? It was just the cherry on the fucked up sundae that was his day so far. 

“You gotta do that?” Gage asked the bot, looking up at it indignantly. It let out another shrill beep and Gage lost his footing, only staying upright thanks to the bot’s little claw. 

“Yeah, yeah she does,” Kincaid told Gage, scooping up his other side. Gage looked at her and blinked stupidly. He stared at her as she inspected the spike embedded in his arm. She made a noise low in her throat. “You’re gonna make it. I ain’t letting you quit, cowboy.” Kincaid told him, dipping down and sweeping him off his feet. He was almost insulted how easily she picked him up, but he wasn’t about to argue. He didn’t have the energy to argue. His head lolled back and he watched as Mason hurled flaming spears at the bloodworm matriarch and the Pack descend on her like the rabid, feral animals they were.

Fucking savages. 

Gage leaned his head against Kincaid’s chest and let his eye close. He focused on breathing, on staying awake. He didn’t want to die, not really. He wanted more days with Caid, more nights in Fizztop. But he was so fucking tired now, and he was still bleeding like a stuck pig. He wasn’t sure he was gonna get a choice in the matter honestly.

“Stay with me, Porter. Mackenzie is here, we just gotta get out of the darkest tunnels,” Kincaid assured him, or was she assuring herself? He wasn’t sure. “Just a little bit longer, you can hold on okay? Hold on for me, babe.” He felt something wet drip on his face and his eye fluttered open. She had her faceplate shoved up, and she had tears running down her face. One splattered against his cheek and he blinked dumbly, tilting his head. 

“I’m so sorry, Gage. I’m so fuckin’ sorry. We should have gone with Mason instead of pressing on,” she whispered, and he was pulled closer to her. “I should have swallowed my pride and admitted we shoulda waited.” He wanted her to know it wasn’t her fault. He wanted her to know that he’d agreed to go deeper too. He needed her to stop crying, but all that came out of his mouth was a pathetic little croak.

He’d meant to say “it’s alright” or “it’s gonna be okay, boss”, but the words wouldn’t come. They just caught in his throat and stayed there. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get it out. She looked down at him and he pressed his cheek into her chest, his eye drifting closed again. Everything still hurt. His head still hurt, his arm still hurt, his chest hurt. And he could feel the larvae squirming around in his legs, burrowing into the muscle of his calves. 

Soon, the sunlight hit the back of his eyelids. He flinched away and tucked his head into Kincaid’s chest with a pathetic little whimper. 

“Mackenzie!” Kincaid shouted, and Gage wanted to tell her to be quiet, to calm down. He felt like his head was splitting in two, right down the middle. He wanted to reach up and cover his ears, but his arms were like jelly. Kincaid dumped him into a cot and he felt Mackenzie’s cold hands, and cold water splashing across his face. Gage’s eye fluttered open and he tried to get away. They were out in the open, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that if one of the gangs wanted him dead, now was the time to do it. 

He felt his mouth fill up with saliva, and he barely pried himself away from Bridgeman’s grip before he emptied his stomach off the side of the cot. It was long empty, but that didn’t stop the bile from bubbling past his lips. 

“Kincaid! Get his arm. He’s gonna need blood.” Bridgeman’s voice warbled in his ears and he heaved again.

“I’m a universal donor,” Kincaid asserted, shucking out of her coat faster then Gage had ever seen her do before. It was like the coat had learned how to fly before promptly crashing into the dirt. She grabbed him and he’d almost wished she was more gentle as she twisted and maneuvered him out of the coat she’d gotten him.

For a brief moment, he stared at the discarded leather on the ground. It was probably ruined, if not by the gore from the worm nest, by the hole now in the arm. That was a big fucking shame; he really liked how it fit on him. Kincaid rolled him on his back and his head lolled with the motion, his eye staring up at the sky unfocused. He felt the nip of a needle slipping into his arm, and then the burn of a stimpack. 

“Caid!” Mackenzie shouted, and Gage lifted his head up a little bit. 

Fuck. these pants were fucked, too. They had holes up the legs, where the worms had chewed through to his flesh. He could see the squirming under the skin and Gage had to fight back another wave of nausea. Kincaid grabbed his leg at the knee and Mackenzie descended on him with a scalpel, cutting into his flesh without considering the fact he was still awake. 

“Jesus Christ!” Gage gasped, throwing his head back into the cot. He could feel the tears burning streaks down his face. He laid there, profoundly aware of every squirming worm under his flesh, and the sensation of his skin splitting to get them out. He felt like he was going to be sick again, and his vision was blurring. Above him, ED-E hovered, its little arm waving back and forth. 

He regarded the bot, focusing on the scrap strapped to its chassis. It had a license plate from Iowa, and a sticker from some sort of school. It had another sticker attached that looked an awful lot like a kiss, in bright pink. Gage had never noticed that it had a patch of glitter glued to it either. Of course she’d glue some straight glitter to her robot. 

“Gage. Gage, are you still with me?” Kincaid asked, and he felt her shake his shoulders. It felt like it took forever to look over at her. “Gage, you gotta stay awake for me, babe. Please, okay? You gotta stay awake,” Kincaid begged him, running her thumb across the scars under his empty eye socket. 

He wanted to tell her sure, that he’d try, or that he was doing his best. It took too much energy just to keep breathing. There was no way he could form words in his mind, let alone speak them. It just wouldn’t happen. She pressed her forehead to his and he heard her whispering a quiet little prayer. He couldn’t quite make out the words, and he was sure some of them were in Spanish, but it gave him a little more resolve. 

“His legs are clear! Get me the bandages, Boss!” Mackenzie sounded panicked, and for a moment, Gage toyed with the idea of sitting up and seeing just what was wrong. He couldn’t muster up the energy though, so instead he just watched as Kincaid left his field of vision. 

“Bloodworm venom makes it so blood can’t coagulate and shit.” It was a new voice, a girl. Well, not new, but new today. He was sure he’d heard her before. She was the Pack girl that helped Kincaid a few days ago, even though it felt like he had been down in the coaster for weeks. What was the girl’s name? Something silly like Savana or something. Sierra, maybe? He wasn’t sure. “We gotta get some blood in him or it ain’t gonna matter how many stims you stab into that arm.” 

Gage felt someone grab his arm roughly, and then they pulled. He felt what remained of the spike start to pull out and shit that hurt. That really fuckin’ hurt. His arm was not as numb as he had thought, and quite frankly it was all he could do to just close his eye and try not to scream like a little bitch. He had his dignity after all. He tried to pull his arm away from them but only succeeded in weakly thrashing around in the cot a little bit.

He had gotten a transfusion before, and it was always a weird sensation. He sure wasn’t used to it being warm. The last time, Mackenzie had used a blood pack from one of the only working refrigerators in Nuka-Town. He looked over at his bad arm and saw Mackenzie setting up Kincaid in a chair, a matching needle in her arm. He blinked slowly, staring at Kincaid. Even slathered in gore and guts, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. The little Pack animal was busy tending to the hole in his arm, inserting stims and wrapping up cuts and scrapes. 

“Kincaid,” Gage rasped, it felt like he had cotton in his mouth and needles in his throat. She perked up and was instantly at his side, her hand in his. “It’s gonna be okay,” he breathed. It was quiet, but he hoped to God she heard him. His vision started to go black and he wished he could see the vast, scattered pinpricks of stars. He didn’t even know if it was day or night, though he was relatively sure he was indoors so it didn’t matter anyway. He just wished he could see them one last time. The last thing he saw was Kincaid, though, and he thought that fit just as well. She was the reason he liked the stars in the first place.

“It’s gonna be okay. I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter almost wrote itself. it was amazing. I cranked out 4k in like 5 hours and then finished it up the day after. so... yay! early update this week!


	27. Save Me Some Sunshine

He was dreaming, he had to be. 

He was back in Fizztop, alone in the darkness of the Grille, on his bed with one arm hanging off the side. He wasn’t sure how he got back to Fizztop, he wasn’t even sure it was possible for him to have made it back. He blinked slowly, his mouth dry. He didn’t remember much of anything, and what he did remember he wanted to forget. The slick sliding down his boots, the bite of worms into his flesh, that feeling of hopelessness as he stared down the Matriarch, ready to die, regretting not seeing the stars with Kincaid.

Then he remembered Mackenzie, and her cold calloused hands- at least, he thought he remembered. The more he tried to grasp at those memories the more he couldn’t quite reach them. They were more impressions, impressions of pain and of his skin being sliced open. He had the impression of his legs being doused in something that burned, something that burned both him and the worms crawling deep in the muscles. 

He had impressions of a Pack Animal, holding his shoulders down and covering his mouth as he screamed and tried to thrash out of Mackenzie’s grip.

He did remember the burning pain of a needle being slid into his arm, something sliding into his veins like fire. Med-X, if he had to guess. He heard whispers of Kincaid apologizing, over and over and over again like a prayer. 

“Please don’t die on me Porter, please don’t die on me,” she whispered, her thumb gently rubbed his cheek and the cold splatter of her tears against his skin. He was sure she held his hand in hers, so he gave her a light squeeze. It was all he could manage in his state, but he wanted her to know that it was okay. He might have dreamed some or all of that. He wasn’t sure.

But he had the sneaking suspicion he had died. 

Inside the Grille where his bed was had always been so separate from the rest of Nuka-Town. It was too isolated, too high up, to hear anything from the pond outside, and the heavy doors blocked all light from the patio too. It was like he hit the pause button on the rest of the world when he closed the door, but it was otherworldly. Especially on days when his migraines were so bad that he needed to use the Med-X he kept stashed in his safe. He’d sleep it all off, and when he woke, it was almost as if he woke up into his some kind of space between life and the afterlife. There was no way he wasn’t going to hell, and it just made sense that his own personal hell would be this place.

It had never been the safe haven he needed. Not from Colter, nor from anything else. 

He was groggy, but beside that- he was afraid. He was afraid to get up and move because if he moved and it didn’t hurt, then he was really dead. If he was alive every movement was going to be agony. He wasn’t sure what option he prefered. 

He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw a flash of movement in his peripheral vision. It was dark and hard to see anything. He wanted to close his eye, to hide from whatever was there. If this was his hell, that could only be one person. He knew he’d gotten too much satisfaction dumping him into the river, he should have known god would pair the two of them up in hell. He squeezed his eye shut and tried to swallow his panic. Deep in his soul, he was terrified he would open his eye to see Colter loomed over him with his favorite, heavy wrench in hand. He did his best to keep his breath even. It probably wouldn’t help, but he felt like he could pretend to be asleep for just a little longer. 

He didn’t want to face Colter, nor did he want to spend the rest of eternity having his shit kicked in for his sins. 

“Gage, honey? Are you awake?”

He froze at the sound of that voice. It was too soft, too quiet to be anyone other than Kincaid. He couldn’t be sure she was real. She wouldn’t be here, not if this was his hell, but he couldn’t afford to be lulled into false security. That would have been the perfect punishment, wouldn’t it? Lure him out with her voice, and have Colter crush his throat the moment his eye opened up. 

It was like a flash flood of memories, of cold tile floors and pooling blood. He could taste the copper in his mouth, feel his bones crack and break against the tiles. He must have been dead because now he was back on the floor of the Cola Cars Arena, cheek pressed against the gritty floor as Colter kicked him in the gut. He could feel Colter’s thumb press into his eye socket, the skin threatening to tear. He could hear Colter’s laughter and feel the cold metal of the wrench as it came down on the back of his neck-

“Gage, your heart rate is up too high,” she sounded panicked, and she had gotten closer. He felt a hand press against his neck and he flinched away on instinct, trying to shove himself back. They scrambled for a moment, his limbs caught in the sheets and kept him tangled here. “Sweetheart, it’s me. Please wake up. It’s a nightmare I promise, please, I’m trying to help. Please, please, Gage, wake up.”

Her hands were on his shoulders now, trying to keep him still as he struggled. She sounded like she was going to cry, and hell or not he couldn’t handle that. His eye fluttered open and there she was, right in front of him.

“‘M’awake.” It came out far more slurred than he expected. If she was there he was alive, and if he was alive then Colter was dead. Makenzie had to have hopped him up with Med-X while he was out. That made sense, made the world make more sense. He had the same hallucination every time he took it, and that’s all it was, just a hallucination. He wasn’t in Cola Cars, he wasn’t bleeding against a wall, and Kincaid had killed Colter. 

His response seemed to satisfy Caid, or he just didn’t have the mental energy to pay attention to her and try to fight through the Med-X haze. Maybe it was both. It didn’t really matter. She had relaxed and let out a soft little sigh, sitting back slightly. As long as she wasn’t distressed, nothing else mattered. He let himself rest again, his eye drifting shut as he focused on breathing. 

He tried to bring a hand to his face to wipe away the sleep from his eye, but it was like he was tied down in place. His panic spiked again and despite the throbbing in his head, his eye shot open again. He struggled against his sheets and Kincaid tried to put a hand on his chest, but he ignored her. He had some range of motion, but he still felt trapped. He looked down, and his brain was a mile behind what he was seeing. The arm that had been trapped by the spine was wrapped and set in a sling against his chest. 

He tried to push down his panic. He had to remind himself that this, too, made sense. If he was in a sling, and he was doped up on chems, it was only a matter of time before one of the gangs thought they could get favor if he wasn’t there, or worse, think that if he was down that Kincaid would be helpless. If they went after her and he couldn’t even shoot his rifle? He’d fail her again, and this time he’d be the reason she was dead, all because he was too stupid not to get snatched away by blood worms, too stupid to not get pulled under. He was useless like this, dead weight that was going to get Kincaid killed. At least with his leg in a brace, he could aim his gun, with only one good arm? Maybe his pistol, but then Colter descending on him despite being shot three times wormed its way into his head. A pistol didn’t do shit against people who were determined enough, and if Nisha wanted Kincaid dead, Gage wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. 

“Gage, honey, you have to calm down.” He finally heard her, through whatever thoughts ran through his head without his control. He looked at her. Caid looked like she hadn’t changed after they left Dry Rock. It was hard to tell in the dark, but most of the blood and grime had been washed away, but she still had on her battle coat, though her armor was off. Her hair was a mess like she’d run her hands through it a few too many times. She had set up a chair next to his bed and he wouldn’t be surprised if she stayed up the entire time he had been asleep, however long that was.

“You know you look like shit, right?” he whispered. He tried to be playful but his tone was lost as he was taken by a coughing fit and left his chest aching and his head spinning. He meant it as a joke, but even in the low light, he could already see tears start to form at the corner of her eyes. Her nose scrunched up and for a moment he was afraid that she was going to start actually crying. He fucked that one right up. Gage tried to mumble out an apology, but she put a hand on his shoulder and just smiled all soft like, her shoulders shaking. He just sagged and tried not to feel too guilty about making her cry.

“Same to you, asshole.” Kincaid laughed quietly, pushing back her hair and letting out a sigh. Better, that was much better. He could handle that, it was normal for them. Normal was good. The tension released from her shoulders and she shook her head, Gage hearing the soft laughter under her breath. “Can I get anything for you, Gage? If you’re in pain, I can get you another dose of Med-X,” she said. Without even a pause to see if he was in pain, Gage shook his head and immediately regretted the motion. It made him dizzy and it took a moment for his head to clear again.

“Coffee,” he whispered and coughed at the effort of talking. His throat was scratchy like he’d tried to hold a conversation with Russell by yelling over the radio at a Pack party. Maybe he should have some water, too. “Maybe dinner?”

“More like breakfast love, but I think we can manage that,” Kincaid smiled and rubbed his shoulder. “Can you stand up? Or I can bring food to you.”

Gage shook his head again, less vigorous than before. He hated the idea of the Overboss doing anything like that for him. He was supposed to do this for her, but of course he’d fucked up and gotten hurt. The least he could fucking do was get out of bed for a few goddam minutes.

“I’m getting up,” he told her. His voice sounded sure the more he spoke, but his throat still felt red and raw. He expected Kincaid to bound away and start to fiddle around in their kitchen, but she didn’t. She waited as he threw off his blanket. He hadn’t put a single thought to what he wore underneath, and he was glad someone had thought to put him in a pair of old gym shorts. He didn’t want to think about how they had to cut up his favorite pair of pants to fix the bloodworm bites. Slower than he would have preferred, Gage shifted to put his feet on the floor. There weren’t any stabbing pains, but every part of him ached a little bit.

Kincaid held out a hand to him and he looked at it dumbly for longer than was probably reasonable. Eventually, his brain decided to kick in and he put his hand in hers. She helped steady him, helped him stand without stumbling. His head rushed and Kincaid just waited until he was okay. He didn’t quite get it, but he was glad she was there.

“You can lean on me if you need to,” she told him, voice real quiet and gentle. He didn’t deserve quiet and gentle, but he sure as hell was going to take it. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.”

He didn’t like having to lean on her, but he was glad she was there. He shifted his hand to her shoulder so he didn’t have to rely on her quite so much, but didn’t leave him vulnerable until he felt more normal.

“How long was I out?” he asked.

“A few days probably, you were in and out. Was touch and go for a minute. This is the first time you’ve been lucid though.” Kincaid replied. “We took Dry Rock, before you panic about that too. Mason came back after you got grabbed. Turns out flamers were a good idea after all.”

“Yeah, yeah. You get one, Boss,” he said quietly. She was the boss though and if she wanted to gloat Gage sure as hell wasn’t going to stop her. She had been right after all, and she did save his ass from the jaws of hell itself. 

“Porter Gage, are you implying that I would be anything but cordial about how I was right,” Kincaid spoke all fancy like, like she was in the Operators Parlor, all manners and shit. He could hear the smirk on her face and he just rolled his eye and smiled.

“And that was your one,” he said. He expected her to argue, even in the good-natured way they bantered sometimes, but she didn’t say anything. Kincaid lead him to the door out to the patio and he braced himself for sunlight to come through the door the second she cracked it, but instead there was soft moonlight. He didn’t think he’d been woke up this early in the morning since he left home, all those years ago.

Sure, he’d been awake when Kincaid made it through the gauntlet. But that was different, that was fear and adrenaline and relief. This? This was peaceful. There was no shouting below from raiders, no broken bottles or partying. It was quiet, with the lights in the patio turned down low and candles sitting in their little holders, tossing dancing shadows against the counters. 

He was tired still, deep in his bones, but he wanted to spend this time with her. She was the last thing on his mind when he was sure he was going to die and he wasn’t going to waste a moment like this. He sat on one of the bar stools while Kincaid disappeared back into the grille inside. After what only felt like a moment, she appeared with two mugs in one hand and a cooler in the other. She set one steaming mug in front of him before she went over to the little kitchenette and set her own mug and the cooler down. Gage tenderly took a sip and was pleasantly surprised she remembered the coffee. She even remembered how he took it, with a splash of brahmin milk but no sugar.

“So what would you like for breakfast? I have some brahmin that’s already cooked. I just have to heat it up,” she offered. The thought of brahmin made him want to hurl, so he shook his head.

“Maybe something a little less,” Gage paused as he tried to find a word for it, but Kincaid didn’t seem to need an explanation. She continued to dig around in her cooler for something else.

“I think I have some leftover tato hash,” she said. “That counts as breakfast, right?”

Gage just nodded. He liked Caid’s tato hash. She always put a little too much oil in the pan when she fried it, but he liked it that way. It would be salty, greasy, and maybe a little stale, but it sounded real good right that moment. 

He still hated that she was helping him like this, that she had to help him, but he swallowed his pride. This was the domesticity he longed for, so he let Kincaid go through the process of heating their food and didn’t protest when she waved away his weak attempt to help. She had gotten their food on to plates when she just stopped and stared out to the horizon. He was just about to ask what was up when she turned back to him.

“Think you’re able to walk on your own?” she asked. “I thought we could eat under the stars, but I can’t carry the plates and support you.”

“Yeah, I manage,” he told her. “I can grab the blanket, boss. Don’t worry about it.” He liked the way she grinned at him. He still wasn’t convinced he hadn’t woken up in some afterlife, but this sure as fuck wasn’t hell. This was exactly what he wanted, when he thought of her in his last moments. He wanted it to be just them, under the stars on the roof of Fizztop. He still felt a little uneasy on his feet, but he didn’t need to lean on someone to walk. He could manage that much on his own. On their way over to the ladder, Gage grabbed the fluffy blanket that Kincaid had pulled out of her void of a bag one day and had since lived on the back of one of the booths that remained. He went up first so he could lay out the blanket for them to sit on. He wasn’t sure how Kincaid balanced both plates on one arm to climb the ladder, but the crash he half expected never came.

Normally they laid back to look at the stars, but Gage was far more interested in his food than that at the moment. He accepted the plate she offered out to him as well as one of the forks in her hand. He really didn’t have anything to say while he ate, and by how his stomach audible growled it had been a long while he had eaten anything. Caid had melted a handful of brahmin cheese on top of the hash, and he appreciated it more than he could ever express. 

He pushed away the swirling thoughts of how the Overboss shouldn’t need to take care of him, how she didn’t need to stoop so low. She could have left him in the grille to recover on his own, maybe just said there was food in the fridge, but no, she helped him up, she tended to his wounds, hell, she even made him breakfast and made his coffee just so. Anyone else and it would have been an insult, but with Kincaid? It oddly didn’t feel patronizing like it had before. Not that many people even cared enough to take care of him since his nan died, but Russell did, at least, but with RedEye it always felt like a form of charity. Like the bastard pitied him. The things Caid did for him, though, always felt a little bit like how he imagined family should feel.

He cleaned his plate quickly and set it to the side, just off the edge of the blanket. He licked the excess grease off his fork before throwing that on the plate too. His stomach growled louder, and he resisted the urge to lick his fingers. He knew, logically, that there was nothing left, but he was still so hungry. Kincaid hadn’t finished eating, but that was okay. They usually spent at least an hour or two after the sunset where they would just look up at the stars. They had time. 

He looked up and let out a little huff, his eye going over the twinkling lights that were scattered across the sky. Gage felt something nudge his leg and he looked over at Kincaid. She was sliding her plate into his lap, with her fork. She had half her hash left, and a couple of tomatoes on the side. He looked over at her and she tilted her head, trying to hand him the plate. He took it gently and went to set it with his before he heard her sigh. She sounded almost disappointed.

“Gage, that’s for you. I ate like an hour ago, and you’re probably still hungry.” She told him, and he looked from her before looking down at her plate. 

“Oh,” he mumbled, setting the plate in his lap. He ate the hash quickly and picked at the tomatoes. She gave him a look so he popped them into his mouth, satisfying her and clearing the plate. He was still tired and now that his stomach was full, he just wanted to lay his head down and sleep again. It was nippy up on the roof, but the chill wasn’t bothering him, not with Kincaid next to him and not with his full stomach. Hell, he could almost fall asleep out here, which was weird. Usually, the cold air gave his joints hell, which was why he’d claimed his little corner of the grille. But at that moment? It was perfect. 

“You know if you’re tired, you can use my lap as a pillow,” Kincaid offered with a gentle pat on her leg. Gage hadn’t realized he’d started to drift to sleep, but he jolted awake at her words and the realization he’d started to rest his head on her shoulder. He didn’t have the energy to argue, and he didn’t want to. He didn’t even much think about how this shouldn’t be appropriate. She was the boss, and he was just her underling, but he just shifted so he could rest his head on one of her thighs and look up at the stars.

And honestly? He was starting to think they were actually friends. 

He used to complain, at the beginning, when Kincaid started dragging him up to the roof after they got back from their adventure scouting out Bradburton and the drainage lake, but now he really didn’t want to imagine his life without these quiet moments with her. He recognized a couple of the constellations she had been trying to teach him. She balanced her plate on her other leg and hummed while she idly played with the short curls on his head. He didn’t have much growth since she shaved it all off, but she ran her fingers through what was there. Gage couldn’t remember the last time he felt so relaxed.

They had two parks, and he had Kincaid. Well, as much as he could have her. He was glad to have her in his life like he did. It was enough. He just closed his eye and smiled.

“Gage, sweetie,” Kincaid said, the silence that stretched between them broken. He struggled to open his eye again so he just hummed. He felt like he was on the edge of sleep, but she deserved his attention. “Do you feel hot at all? Or cold?”

She gave him the same look she had when he first woke up with eyes that watched him almost too closely, tinged with concern. She had stopped playing with what little hair he had and had the back of one hand rested on his forehead. He must have taken longer to reply than he realized.

“We should go back inside,” she told him. “Come on, let’s get up.”

That didn’t make any sense at all. He liked being up here. The stars were beautiful in a way he never appreciated before Dry Rock, and while it was normally chilly at night, he didn’t feel it right now. In fact, he almost felt warm. A good warm, from his core out. That’s when it clicked. He reached up and felt his own forehead. It probably did no good, but he felt too warm.

“Maybe thatsa good idea,” he finally relented. 

He sat up and his head swam. He wasn’t nauseous, but he wasn’t sure he could stand without the possibility of passing the fuck out. Caid tried to help him up with a tug on his hand, but he could already feel the world spin. She frowned and he felt even worse. He couldn’t even stand up. What kind of a raider was he, where the Overboss had to look after him like this. He was no better than a child. Jesus Christ, he felt pathetic.

That didn’t get any better when Kincaid simply heft him over her shoulder like he weighed nothing at all. It definitely didn’t help the dizzy feeling, and Gage didn’t know how to protest at first. Words didn’t make sense in his brain, at least not well enough to say anything.

“Boss,” he managed, but she ignored him. She got to the edge of the rooftop, and Gage closed his eye. He didn’t want to see how the world spun as she climbed down the ladder, but that never came. Instead, he felt her jump. He was glad he didn’t have to watch them fall, but that relief didn’t last when they landed with a jolt that sent her shoulder straight into his gut. It wasn’t a long fall, but the force was enough to knock the wind out of him. He made a choked noise and she paused to shift him on her shoulder. 

“Boss,” he gasped out, and that finally got her attention.

“Oh, fuck,” she said at once. “I am so, so sorry.” She let him down off her shoulder and he tried not to let the dizzy feeling get worse. It got worse regardless, but It helped when he could lean on her. “C’mon, let’s get you back to bed.”

“I don’t wanna go inside yet,” he told her. His head had started to clear. He didn’t need to go back to sleep just yet. “We missed the sunset, and I wanna watch the sunrise with you.” He stared at his feet and licked his lips. This was soft, it was too soft, but he didn’t want her to go, he didn’t want to be alone again. 

She didn’t argue with him like he expected. She let him lean on her and she led him over to the bed on the patio. It was only a maximum of fifty feet, but it felt like an eternity before he could sit on the soft mattress. He didn’t need to lean on her anymore and when her body heat left, it felt like all of his warmth went with her.

“You stole my warm,” he blurted out. She frowned at him and pulled the covers around his shoulders. Still, it felt like ice water ran through his body instead of blood and he shivered in the cold. She disappeared from his view and he didn’t have the energy to move to see where she went. He hoped she’d come back, though. Not just because she was the source of warmth in his life.

That was a bad thought. Even in his sluggish mind, he knew that was not a line he wanted to cross ever. Kincaid was his friend, and that was enough.

He tried not to fall asleep as he sat there. He was leaning forward with his good elbow braced against his leg, with his head between his knees. He didn’t think he’d seen a sunrise proper in at least two decades, and he wanted to know what Caid thought of the difference in colors between the sun’s rise and set. She cared about colors like that. Somewhere, in the background, he heard Kincaid say something. He still didn’t have the energy to turn to look at her, but he was sure he heard his name. He also heard a series of beeps that were unmistakably made by Ed-E. He really had to focus to pay attention.

“See if Kenzie’s willing to make a house call,” she said to the little bot. He didn’t even have it in him to feel annoyed with the little fucker like he normally did, but the shrill beeps went straight into his skull. “He’s got fever and chills, plus some general confusion. I’m worried an infection set in.”

It felt like an eternity before she returned. He didn’t see her yet, but he heard her footsteps. He felt a little more warmth and a little more weight on him. He hadn’t even realized he closed his eye until he cracked it open to see that she had spread their stargazing blanket on top of the blankets he already had.

“How do you feel, Gage?” she asked. Caid rounded the bed frame into his view. She knelt down in front of him, looking up at his face. She smiled at him, but she looked worried. He hated that she worried over him like that. It wasn’t her job.

“Great,” he lied. He didn’t feel great, he felt cold and like he had a migraine setting in. “Just tired.”

“Well, get some sleep then,” she hummed, and he started to shift to lay down. She laid a gentle hand on his face for an agonizing moment before she went to pull away. Gage made a weak motion to stop her and rested his hand on her wrist. 

“Don’t,” he said. “I don’t wanna be alone,” he admitted, quietly, softly, and only to her. He’d only ever admit to it her, here, when they were really alone. She let out a soft little sigh and her thumb rubbed just under his ruined eye socket, tracing over the ruined flesh. 

“Its okay, Porter. I won’t leave you. I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These next couple of chapters are nothing but entirely self indulgent FLUFF.
> 
> I gotta make up for dry rock somehow right???
> 
> Safari adventure is next, and lemme tell you- I am lookin' forward to that. Skell and I got 101 headcanons, its where Caid and Gage finally fucking talk to each other about FEELINGS'n'Shit, its when the first sexytimes ties in. its gonna be great.
> 
> only took 150k words to get to
> 
> and to think, I thought I was making this fic too matchstick to be considered slow burn.


	28. Won't Go Down Easy

The scratch of his pencil against his notebook was calming. Just about the only damn thing that was any kinda calming in the month and a half after Dry Rock. He tallied up the Pack’s earnings, working down the numbers in each column one by one as he translated Mason’s chicken scratch handwriting. Soft music played over his partly broken radio, which helped drown out the sounds of Kincaid working on her weaponry a room over. 

As it turns out, infections were a very serious health issue. Gage knew that. Mackenzie knew that. Kincaid? Apparently, Kincaid had never had an infection in her life and had no idea what sort of things to look out for. Mackenzie had ripped the boss a new one for letting him get up and stumble around, half out of his mind with a combination of a fever and a Med-X haze. Gage didn’t approve of how the plucky little doctor talked to the boss, but he didn’t get much of a say while he was laying in his bed, his eye unfocused as Kincaid got lectured all to high hell.

“You can’t just let him stumble around! You’re lucky he didn’t wander off the patio while you had your back turned!” Mackenzie had said, Gage flinched at the thought of dropping off the side of Fizztop. The idea of that drop, the air rushing past him and the inevitable snap of his bones when he hit the concrete below wormed its way into his mind. It would be fodder for later nightmares he was sure. 

“He was coherent! MOSTLY,” Kincaid argued, sitting beside his bed and sipping a mug of tea with a frown. “And he wanted to see the stars, and the sunrise. And he was hungry! Was I supposed to just let him lay there and starve?”

“You let him climb up on the roof! In SHORTS,” Mackenzie snarled and slammed her fist into the bedside table. “And you believed him when he said he wasn’t cold!?”

“I’ve never been sick! How am I supposed to know that fevers made people all fucked up!?” Kincaid argued. Gage had a hard time believing that she had never been sick in her life, that just didn’t happen. She’d have to be super human.

“I’m not even going to unpack that one, boss,” Mackenzie said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “He doesn’t leave this bed, not until I say so. If he has to piss, he can piss into a bottle, he needs to take a shit he can use the bedpan. But he doesn’t leave this bed until I clear him.” Gage didn’t like that, and he tried to argue but he was too far out of it. All that he could manage was some disgruntled noises into his pillow. Thank god Kincaid hadn’t listened, even if she had insisted on helping him get to the bathrooms.

Gage didn’t remember much about that night. He remembered Kincaid and thinking he was dead. He remembered seeing Colter, and that was probably the Med-X, unless the dead decided to haunt him. He didn’t believe in ghosts though, so he was safe from Colter’s vengeful spirit for a while yet. Probably. 

Thinking about it put the hair on the back of his neck on end. 

He shook the bad thoughts out of his head and returned to the books ahead of him. The gangs had made a lot of money, at least, two of them had. The Disciples hadn’t made shit all since Kincaid had shown up, but The Pack and The Operators were both prospering. She hadn’t even officially given them the parks yet, but the teams that had gone in with him and Caid had come out with huge amounts of scrap and valuables to sell. He idly chewed on his pencil as he worked over the numbers, his eye darting from Mason’s books to his own.

It was about time they started thinking about taking the next park, whichever one Kincaid decided on. He’d been trying to get her to talk about it for the last couple of weeks but she was tight-lipped as ever about her plans. If it were up to him, he’d take either Safari Adventure or Kiddie Kingdom. Safari Adventure would make a good outpost, but Kiddie Kingdom would solidify their position and give them another place to send people out of. It would be close and convenient. 

Both were good options. 

Things weren’t sitting well with Gage though, as far as Dry Rock Gulch was concerned. There was no way Nisha would have turned down taking that park after she sent Dixie to confirm it was theirs. Kincaid was just as tight-lipped about what happened in the mountain as she was about her future plans. So, like the raider he was, Gage went behind her back. 

He’d gotten Russ to do some sleuthing for him. The DJ knew everyone and would get the details- however exaggerated they were. It was important Gage knew what they were dealing with, because if Kincaid played games with Nisha, they were both going to get stabbed. Gage had waited with bated breath for Russ to come back up, and when the DJ made his way back into the Grille Gage was on the edge of the bed. 

“The Boss was shafted, yeah,” Russ had said with a shrug. “Savoy was the one who did it, so Nisha apparently has no idea what it all entailed as far as the Parks go.” Russ pulled up a chair and sat down as Gage rubbed his face with his good hand. Russell absentmindedly picked food off a snack platter Kincaid had brought in for the two of them and stuffed a chunk of cheese into his mouth. “She’s gonna be pissed when Kincaid hands out the parks. You know it, I know it. Shit man, its gonna be a cluster fuck.” Russ leaned back and Gage just nodded.

But that was a problem for after they took another park. Right now Gage was more focused on the numbers, and how Kincaid seemed to be inflating her share. He knew she’d taken on some pet projects while he was down, but he wasn’t entirely sure what. There was something in the hotel she’d been figuring out, that had been taking up most of her time, and something in Nuka-Town proper. She also had finished the cleanup and had opened up more of Nuka-Town to tourists, which made the arcade pull in more caps than they’d ever seen. He tapped his pencil against his journal, mentally totaling up what profits Kincaid had remembered to record. She was good at making money, he wouldn’t argue with that- but damn if she was terrible at keeping a ledger. 

That was what he was around for, he s’posed. 

“Hey, Gage!” Kincaid’s voice brought him back to the present, and she tossed down his eyepatch into his lap. He hadn’t seen it in a while, and he’d assumed it was lost in the gore of Mad Mulligan’s. He picked it up, turning it over in his hands before looking up at Caid. “Feel that backing! Its big horner leather, softest shit this side of the United States, I kid you the fuck not.” Kincaid told him, tapping the new lining. “Now it won’t rub on your cheek all weird.” she seemed so proud of herself. 

Gage ran his thumb over the leather and tilted his head. He flipped the metal back around and started looking over the grooves, trying to find any trace of Dry Rock’s portal to hell still on it. But no, it was clean, freshly painted, and the band had been replaced. He hummed softly as Kincaid idly rubbed his back. 

“Thanks, boss,” he said quietly as a smile pulled onto his lips. It made him feel all weird, sort of warm on the inside. He put it on, adjusting the metal against his face. Kincaid beamed a big ol’ smile.

“No problem, Mr. Gage. Was the least I could do after almost gettin’ you killed.”

“Boss, we’ve talked about this-” Gage started and she just pressed a finger to his lips.

“No. Shush,” Kincaid hushed him, and Gage just arched his eyebrow at her. “Now, ‘Kenzie said you can get up and walk around, and we’re not gonna tell her you’ve been doing that for the last two weeks, but I got something to show you downstairs. You think you can manage to get down to the laundry room?” Kincaid asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Gage chuckled and nodded, and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He was clad in just a pair of jeans that Kincaid had brought him. It was too hot to wear too much of anything else. Summer was in full swing, and while the Grille stayed somewhat reasonable the heat still leaked in. He couldn’t imagine how fuckin’ hot the patio must have been, but judging by the fact Kincaid was in a bikini top and shorts so short half her ass cheeks were hanging out, it must have been hot. 

She grabbed him by the hand and led him to the stairs, dragging him down into the depths of the Fizztop hotel. He followed along, and while they had to take the stairs slower than usual, he made it down just fine. 

The laundry room was in full swing, every single one of the machines working on cleaning something. Kincaid had opened it up to the Operators, for a fee of course. Fuckin’ brilliant, so far as Gage was concerned. Kincaid lead him over to the dryers and pulled a folded article of clothing off of the top. 

“Now I know those were your favorite pants, you loved those things to literal death.” Kincaid unfolded the pair of pants she was holding and his eye widened. They were black leather, in the same style his old pants had been in. “and we had to cut them off you because, well.... gross stuff ‘n shit,” Kincaid said softly, draping the pants over her arm. “So I took the remains to The Pack and had Mason get his people to make you a new pair. You’re gonna have to break them in, but-”

Gage just stood there, staring dumbly at the pants. She didn’t have to do that, but she did. He reached out as she prattled about what kind of leather they used and what sorta things he could do to make them fit right. She talked about fancy shit like tailoring them, and how she could soften up the leather if he needed her to. He took the pants from her and she paused, watching as he ran his thumbs over the legs. 

They felt so similar to his pants, but sans the holes and the blown out knees. He wanted to put them on right then, for that simple comfort of normalcy. His eye felt like it was burning and he felt his nose starting to stuff up and that's when it dawned on him. He felt like he was going to cry and that was not going to do at all. He’d gone soft enough as it was, she did not need to see him weep. 

“Thanks, Caid,” he whispered as he palmed at his good eye. He sucked in a breath and heard Kincaid chuckle. 

“You like those, then you’re gonna love this,” Kincaid said, turning from him and digging around in one of the dryers. He watched her with a tilt of his head. She was all bent over and the view was exquisite, with those tiny little shorts. He looked somewhere else, reminding himself he shouldn’t even be looking. She would never return those feelings. But god if he didn’t fantasize sometimes, and being cooped up in Fizztop for weeks on end, his imagination had started running all sorts of wild. 

But those were bad thoughts, and they were chased away the moment she straightened out and shoved his tank top into his hands. “I got most of the blood stains out of it! And I fixed the frayed hem,” Kincaid explained, pointing to stitching along the edge. Sure enough, his tank top was mended and mostly clean. He didn’t think it had been this clean when he scavved it from some prewar mall years ago. He didn’t know what to say at first, and then he felt like anything he could say would be too sentimental, and Porter Gage did not do sentimental.

“I should get changed, then,” he said. He made sure he had all the things she’d given and started to find a discreet place to get dressed, but Kincaid put a hand on his shoulder.

“You are not putting on your clean clothes until you get a shower, Gage,” she said.There was no playfulness to it, just her quiet, commanding tone. “I did not work for weeks getting shit together for you to crawl into it with stanky, sweaty bed ass,” Kincaid told him, taking his hand. 

“Boss, we don't got showers,” Gage reminded her, but he was almost afraid as she led him down the dimly lit halls of the hotel. She ignored him and pulled him into another room, a bathroom of sorts. It was all white tile and grungy grout, almost too clinical looking as far as Gage was concerned. 

Kincaid let him go and made a big sweeping motion at several bare showerheads poised over several stalls. “Behold! Community showers!” Kincaid told him with a flourish. “Me and several Operators have been working on refurbishing them, getting them working and shit!” Kincaid looked proud of herself, and Gage wanted to be proud, too- but he couldn’t help just run the numbers in his head. It had to have been expensive getting the plumbing working again, and what kind of strain were the hot water heaters going to put on Fizztop’s generators. Would they need to get Fritsch to put up another set? Where was she getting the water? From the reservoir under Nuka Town? Or did they actually trace the plumbing all the way back to the proper reservoir?

Kincaid watched him intently, and his face must have betrayed his hesitation. “Head in the moment, Porter Gage.” she laughed, and he looked at her. “Don’t worry about the specifics, Daniels got it all figured out,” she pushed him towards one of the stalls. “Now, swamp ass. Fuckin’ shower.” 

He did not much care for being called swamp ass, but there were other things to consider. “Boss, I ain’t got a towel or soap or-” He started to point out but Kincaid pushed on his back to shove him in the stall. 

“Gage, do you really think I would be that unprepared? I’ve been waiting to ambush you with soap for a while now!” Kincaid pointed out, and when Gage looked into the stall he saw grey fluffy towels and bottles of product. “I ain’t sure when you last showered, but now it would be a fantastic time! Get all the sick off you so that we can start planning to take Safari Adventure,”

He perked up at that, letting her corral him into the stall. “We goin’ after it? With what gang?” he wanted the details, but she just shook her head. He’d only been hounding her about it for the last month, trying to pry her plans out of her like a wasteland doc pried out broken teeth. “Boss, come on!” he groused as she slipped into the stall behind him. He turned to her and realized too late how cramped it was. He backed up into the wall as she pressed closer, gazing up at him through her lashes. 

“I’ll only tell you if you shower for me,” she told him, with a tilt of her head. 

So that was how she was going to play it. Smart, and very annoying. He swallowed down his anxiety and closed his eye. “Fine,” he grit out, and he heard her laugh. God, that laugh made his spine turn to jelly every damn time. “But you better have more for me then ‘oh, I decided on Safari’.”

“I promise I have more than a goal in mind. ED-E has been scouting for me and I have intel,” Kincaid told him with a pat to his bicep. “Now, clean up. Mason’s gonna be in the grille in an hour and I want both us presentable.” 

“For the savage?” Gage asked as he opened his eye. She laughed again and he found himself watching how her shoulders shook so softly, how her eyes crinkled at the edges, and how her nose scrunched up. It was the most endearing thing Gage could think of in the moment, and it was distracting as hell. 

He found he actually didn’t mind Mason too terribly, the brute of a man had come up to check on him. Even if it was thinly veiled by the excuse ‘just droppin’ off the books’, it was obvious. Usually, Mason sent them via courier, to drop them off in person was nothing more than to check if Gage was still kicking. The mountain of a man was sporting a few burns, but overall looked better then he’d been for a long while. 

Kincaid palmed at her eye, shaking her head and letting the last of her laughter trail off. “Yes, for the savage. The savage who I found out bathes more than your stank ass.”

He sucked in air through his teeth and let a chuckle rumble out of his chest. “That’s a low blow, boss. You hurt me.” 

“You’re already injured, what’s one more blow? Now shower.” Kincaid turned around and left him in the stall, closing the door behind her. The walls only went up to his shoulders, so he could still see her as she made her way into the adjacent stall. She stripped out of her bikini stop and hung it on her door and Gage watched, completely mesmerized. She looked over and raised an eyebrow and he averted his gaze. He tried to keep himself from turning bright red and, suddenly, the grout at his feet was the most interesting thing in the world.

He shoved aside bad thoughts and started to take off his jeans. There was always something about Kincaid that just made his whole body react to her, but he was a grown ass man and he could manage his urges. She didn’t like him like that, he was okay with that, the rest of him just needed to get the memo. 

He hung his jeans over the door and set his patch down on the bench. He didn’t want it to get too wet. Even with the fresh paint, it was at risk of rusting. He turned on the water by twisting the knobs as far as they would go without thinking about it. It came out of the shower head too cold, and he let out a surprised yelp as the icy little pinpricks hit his back. However, it quickly got too hot and he was scrambling for the knobs. It took a minute to get it to a temperature where he wasn’t freezing or boiling, but eventually, he found it. Kincaid, however, had all the steam in the world billowing around her stall. She must have had the hot water up all the way, and he had no idea how she wasn’t burning to death. 

He averted his gaze again and sorted through the bottles Caid had left for him. He was sure one was regular soap, but there were at least three others that he had no idea what to do with. He figured it wasn’t worth dealing with anything fancy anyway, so he poured some of the soap into his hand. It smelled fruity, but not like any of the perfumes Caid liked to put on. It actually reminded him of the citrons they grew down in the Gulf. He had gotten sick of it pretty quick when that was all his gang at the time had to eat for six months, but he kinda missed it in a strange way now. He had been too young to know what was worth sticking around for and what was too far.

“Don’t you fuckin’ dare use that on your hair,” he heard Kincaid say as he lifted his hands towards his head. He looked over at her and grunted and raised his eyebrow. She had her hair piled up on top of her head, all sudsed up. “That is for skin, not hair. Your hair will get dry, and break off, and it will be bad and I’ll have to shave it all off again and I will be disappointed in you, Porter.” 

Gage frowned at her and let out a sigh, grabbing a wash rag off the bench the other soaps were perched on. “I geddit. Don’t use it on my head,” he groused as he went over himself with the soapy rag. It had been a long while since he’d had a proper bath, so he was reasonably thorough. It smelled good at least. He was thankful for that. “Which fuckin’ one is for my head?” he asked, glaring at the array of bottles. 

“The long skinny one. And just a lil’ bit or you’ll be greasy forever.” Kincaid told him as she rinsed her hair. It seemed silly to have so many fucking soaps, and he couldn’t imagine traveling with it all. But, her hair was in fantastic condition, so she must have known what she was talking about, he s’posed. He grabbed the long skinny one and gave it a curious sniff. It was perfume-y, like hers. He shrugged to himself. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to smell like Caid; she smelled nice.

He worked that goo through his short hair and rinsed it off just like he would his soap. Normally, he didn’t care for showers, it reminded him too much of rain, but with heated water and the mix of scents in the air, it almost felt relaxing. He didn’t see any glaring spots he’d missed, and he was sure he’d cleaned all of the junk out of his hair. Satisfied, he turned the knob to turn off the water and grabbed for the fluffy towel she’d left for him and started to dry off.

Kincaid was still sudsing away at her hair, and when he looked over it was framing her face like a pink curtain. “You almost done?” he asked, and she hummed. “I’m gonna go back up to Fizztop, I gotta get the books cleaned up if Mason’s coming around.”

“Why?” Kincaid asked, looking at him and tilting her head. 

“Last time we let one of the bosses see the books, Mags screwed over Nisha so badly, even Colter was afraid,” Gage explained as he pulled on his clean pants. “It was bad boss. Nisha threatened to pull outta the deal entirely and we hadn’t even taken Nuka-Town yet. We were still in the siege,” Gage spoke softly and his brows furrowed. Colter had been so mad and that was when Gage took over the books for all of the gangs. It had been a rookie mistake on some poor Disciples part that almost got all of them killed.

“Damn. Numbers are dangerous,” Kincaid nodded sagely. Gage looked at her and made a face. She seemed satisfied though, so he slipped on his tank top. It was soft and still warm from the dyer. He hummed happily and tucked the hem into his pants, adjusting the waist. It was still a little too loose, but he didn’t mind. His belt was upstairs and it wasn’t like they were gonna fall down on the short walk. He was finally starting to feel like himself again, and as far as he was concerned.

He had just gotten to the stairs when he realized Caid still hadn’t given him any more details for Safari Adventure. It was Nuka-World’s biggest park, by land mass, but a lot of it had been set aside as some kind of animal refuge before the bombs fell. He should probably see what Ed-E had already scouted in the area. With Dry Rock, everyone knew to stay away from the bloodworms, but no one ever came back from a journey into Safari Adventure. He’d heard rumors of deathclaws in the park, and that wouldn’t surprise him, but the average team of Pack animals could take down a deathclaw. There had to be something more to it, some kind of twist. If there was one thing the Nuka-Cola corporation was good at back in the day, it was the underhanded, sneaky shit that was biting them in the ass now.

The more he thought about it, the more inclined he was to blame those Nuka-Assholes for the bloodworms, too. He had no idea if it was actually their fault, but he didn’t care. The dead didn’t give a fuck if you blamed them for shit, and it made him feel better. 

Mason hadn’t shown up yet when Gage got up to the Grille, but he expected that. It was still a bit early, and Mason liked to roll into meetings fashionably late. Gage knew it was a power move, but it gave him time to get everything straight. First, though, he found his belt and put it on. Kincaid had made sure to reclaim it before they trashed his old pair, and for that he was grateful. Then he marked the page he had been working on and stashed the ledger away. He went out to the patio and made sure Kincaid hadn’t left any of her underwear outside of her little curtained off bedroom. 

He dipped down to pick up a pair that had somehow made their way onto one of the couches and he couldn’t repress the snort. They were a little pink pair, all silky and soft, and right on the ass she had embroidered the words ‘Le Butt’. He tossed them into her little room and did one last check over. 

Everything looked clean enough, especially for raider standards, so he went back inside to the kitchen to see if there were leftovers he could have real quick. A week or so back, Kincaid got it into her head that the key to Gage getting better was more food, so she made something she called a ‘full English.’ He wasn’t sure what that meant, but it had been more food than either of them could eat in one sitting, but Gage was happy to pick through the leftovers. There wasn’t anything he could pull out quickly, though. They still had half a loaf of razorgrain bread, but he liked it the way Kincaid made it, fried in brahmin butter and drippings from the bacon, but he really didn’t have the energy or patience for any of that. In the end, he just grabbed a bit of the brahmin cheese and decided that was enough to count as lunch.

The door to the stairs opened while his mouth was full, but he peeked his head out of the kitchen to greet Kincaid but was met with Mason instead.

“Well, look at Nuka’s favorite cyclops. Boss-Lady had you clean up for little ol’ me? I’m flattered,” Mason teased. Gage was entirely prevented from any kinda snappy comeback, so he decided to let it go. It wasn’t worth the banter, and Mason probably didn’t mean anything by it. Probably. He swallowed the food in his mouth and took another slice off the block.

“Cheese?” Gage asked as he offered it out to him. Mason looked at the hunk of cheese and knife in his hand, then back up at Gage’s face. He shrugged and meandered over and took the chunk of cheese. 

They ate quietly for a moment or two until Kincaid came up and they both heard her make a confused noise. “Cheese, guys? Really? My good brahmin cheese?” Kincaid asked. Her hands were on her hips. Mason shrugged and Gage popped another chunk into his mouth. He chewed real slow like while staring at her, a smile pulling at his lips. 

“Boss,” Gage said once he swallowed, and she let out a huff and pinched the bridge of her nose. He snorted and flipped his knife in his hand before he slid it back into a sheath on his belt. It was his boot knife, but he tended not to wear his boots around Fizztop as often as before, at least while he was in recovery. 

“Ok, put away the cheese and let’s get to the table. I got info, I got tapes from ED-E, and we need to figure out the numbers.” Kincaid told them, and Mason padded over to her like an overgrown puppy. Gage made a quick trip back to the fridge and shoved the cheese back inside before wiping his hands off on his shirt and making his way back over to Kincaid. She was rolling out a map, one of the big novelty ones of all the parks. 

“Safari Adventure makes up over a quarter of the territory that is Nuka World,” Kincaid started, looking between the two of them. Mason leaned on the table and tilted his head while Gage pulled up a chair and sat down. “Its filled with nature reserves, coasters, attractions, its own marketplace, and, if the terminal entries I’ve found about it are to be believed, an advanced science and biotics lab underneath of it,” Kincaid tapped on the map and Mason nodded.

“That’s right, Boss-Lady. We’re all versed in what its got here,” Mason informed her, and she leaned forward. “Unless that bot o’ yours found somethin’ else, this is all old news.”

“The databases I got access to gave me all sorts of records, including, but not limited to- a list of animals cloned. Both previously-” she looked at the two of them in turn. 

“Animal clones? That sounds like a fun time for the Pack,” Mason said. He looked like he was going to say something further, but Kincaid glared at him until he closed his mouth again. The silence stretched out between them, and she took a breath.

“And cloned recently.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some more fluff! fluffy fluff before we get into safari adventure and start actually burning that match. by the time we capture safari, Gage and Kincaid will have had their first KISS. I'm dying squirtle.


	29. Power

Cloned recently. 

Gage didn’t like the sound of that. He didn’t like the sound of it when Kincaid showed him and Mason the tapes ED-E collected. He didn’t like the unnatural roars, nor the snarling spitting rage at the little bot. And he really wasn’t much for the voice of a man that showed up on the tapes, speaking broken English and killing whatever cloned monstrosities the Nuka-Cola motherfuckers had decided to spew out. 

Barehanded, if the noises were any indication. 

“Jesus,” Mason muttered with a squint as he listened to the recording that was filtering out of the grainy little Pip-Boy speakers. Kincaid set the little machine in the center of the table with a nod and shoved off the table to move over to her little corner. Gage stopped paying attention to the recording as she started collecting her weapons and throwing them over to her bag. She threw her reinforced ceramic armor to the side too, before stripping out of her little shorts. Gage’s eye widened and he turned away, looking back to Mason. The brute was not paying attention to the boss and instead focused entirely on the recording. 

“You goin’ somewhere, boss?” Gage asked even though he knew damn fucking full well where she was intending to go. He was glad for it, even if he knew it was going to piss off Mackenzie. He could only stay on his ass for so long, infection or not. 

“A safari I think, want to see some animals from far off places,” Kincaid responded nonchalantly as she tied her rifle case to her duffle bag. She shimmied into a pair of combat fatigues, snapping the buttons shut. “There is someone in there, I wanna meet them,” Kincaid told him as she pulled on a thin black tank top.

From the recordings, ED-E followed this Grognak sounding motherfucker around for a while. The bot met a family of grunting somethings, and then there was a weak voice of a ghoul, whispering to Grognak. ED-E beeped at him when the ghoul breathed his last, and the poor bastard had no idea what the bot was saying. 

“Shiny Metal Friend, Cito not speak your talk,” the man said, sounding confused as ED-E beeped frantically. ED-E let out something akin to a groan on the recording, which made Grognak laugh. “Cito need help make monster go away. New friend help?”

“I got friends!” ED-E had played a recording of someone sounding slightly insulted, some young kid’s voice. 

“Good! Bring for Cito! Help Cito save family!” 

“You wanna go on a vacation Gage?” Kincaid asked as she grabbed his armor and tossed it into the pile of shit she was gathering. Gage was briefly reminded of a raven, building a nest of shiny things. He shook that thought out of his head and leaned against the table. Yes, yes he wanted to get out of Fizztop, he wanted to get out and shake out his legs, but he also knew just how sick he’d been. He’d only really started coming back to cognizance within the last week or so, and while he was stir crazy, he wasn’t sure he wanted to risk the little doctor’s wrath. Not after what happened in Galactic Adventure; he never heard the end of that bullshit. 

He dragged his hand down his face with a shake of his head. “You know Bridgeman ain’t gonna clear that.” She shrugged and tossed his rifle onto the pile of crap. “And you even think about what kinda rations we’re gonna need to get out to Safari Adventure? You approach any of the gangs about this?”

 

“I’m right here,” Mason interjected as he looked up from a hand radio, “and don’t worry about rations, my boys got us covered.”

“Ah yes, I forgot you’re all the important people in this shithole. Sorry,” Gage growled at the alpha as he crossed his arms across his chest. His sarcasm was harsher than he really intended, but he itched for a fight after he’d been idle for so long. This was one topic he had to make sure Caid didn’t take lightly. “Boss, you shaft Nisha and it's gonna cause problems later. I know a place named ‘safari’ has the Pack written all over it, but you gotta think big picture-”

“I am. The picture includes Nisha dead,” Kincaid said quietly, and Gage felt his blood run cold. He took a step back and Mason snorted, shaking his head at the boss. “Let her be mad. I promised her nothing and I keep my promises, don’t I Porter?”

“Boss you can’t-” Gage started, but he paused. He couldn’t just tell the Overboss she couldn’t do something in front of one of the bosses. This wasn’t joking about flamers; this was politics, politics that were going to shape the entirety of the region. And last time he told a boss that they couldn’t do something seriously, Colter had made it very clear how appreciated that advice was. “I mean, you shouldn’t-”

Mason stared at him for a moment, a smile spreading across his face. “Did you just suggest the boss couldn’t do somethin’?” he laughed slightly and Gage shot him a glare. “That ain’t never gone too well for you Gage, you’d think you’d have learned by now.” 

“You stop it, Mason. It ain’t like you ain’t heard me bitch about Nisha before. I was told to pick people to trust, and I trust both of you,” Kincaid told him as she looked over at the two of them. She almost looked hurt, which Gage hated deep down to his core. His eye darted over to Mason and she waved her hand to keep their attention on her. “Gage, you can speak freely. You know I ain’t Colter. Speak freely.” 

Gage licked his lips as he processed this information. Ok, ok. The boss told him to speak freely, and he knew logically Kincaid wasn’t Colter, she valued his input, she’d told him so herself many times. And if she trusted Mason, then he’d have to trust the savage too. It didn’t sit all that well with him, but fuck him, he s’posed. At least he knew Mason could come through for them in a tough spot. He’d proven that much in Dry Rock. The asshole could have left them, left him, to die in that hell pit.

“Boss, you can’t just fuck over Nisha. You know what she’ll do. Russ showed you what she did to me,” Gage grit out, his voice dropping low. “She ain’t gonna take kindly to you fucking her over because Savoy decided to be an asshole.”

It was more then he wanted Mason to know, but he needed Kincaid to take the threat seriously. He needed her to consider Nisha an actual player. If she brushed Nisha aside, they were all going to end up dead or worse. It would be so much worse for him, she had no idea. Just the thought of it made his blood run cold as ice, made his head spin, made his heart beat so hard he was sure it was going to break his ribs. They could run, but they couldn’t hide. Only a bullet to Nisha’s heart would stop her, and Gage wasn’t so sure that would work. It sure as fuck hadn’t stopped Colter. 

Kincaid looked shocked for a moment, then a smile spread across her face. “I told you, Gage, the first day of bein’ Overboss,” Kincaid said as she played with her boot knife, a big bowie knife she used to crack ribs whenever she went on one of her rampages. She tossed it into the air and caught it by the handle, her eyes half closed. “I ain’t giving her one centimeter of these fuckin’ parks. She can come at me; she can try and kill me. She’ll die,” Kincaid spun the knife in her hand before sliding it into her boot. “And if she touches you?”

Gage froze in place, his nails digging into his palms. Kincaid’s eyes locked on him, and it was like she was staring into his soul. 

“She’ll live to regret it.”

“Jesus Christ, Boss-Lady.” Mason’s voice startled Gage, who stumbled back and looked over at the alpha. “You like, practice that creepy ass look or is that just- something you do?” he asked as he leaned on the table. Kincaid stared at him for a moment, making the alpha squirm. 

“Its something I do,” Kincaid said plainly as she pulled on her gloves. “She’ll be lucky if I don’t doom her to the same fate I gave Elijah.” Kincaid pulled on her holster and Gage slunk back slightly. He felt too open in the middle of the grille, too exposed. 

“What’d you do to this Elijah, Boss-Lady?” Mason asked as he made his way over to the kitchen. He pulled out a Nuka-Cola and popped the bottle cap off with the countertop. Gage glared at the Pack Animal. He wasn’t really fond of Nuka Cola but he didn't like how casual the alpha was in taking his and the Overboss’ food. 

“The fucker thought he could put a collar on me,” Kincaid started as she worked her bandoliers across her hips. “So I locked him in a vault, no food, no water. And I watched for the whole five days as he slowly died of dehydration and starvation.” Kincaid adjusted her ceramic armor casually as if she were talking about the weather or the outcome of a raid, not the savage destruction of human life. This was a side of Caid that Gage very much liked to see. There was more raider in her than she liked to think, and this was proof. “And he begged, how he begged for his life. Course, he was mad at first; he was angry I beat him at his own game.”

“After the second day, he started begging, begging oh so sweet for me to let him out. How could I be such a monster as to lock him in with all his precious pre-war tech, with his precious holograms and his precious gold.” She looked at Mason, her voice dropping real low. “As if his begging would make up for the two weeks I spent with his shitty modified collar around my neck, having to obey his every command, having to fight off the ghost people of the Madre to do his dirty work.” Her teeth grit and Gage couldn’t help the fear that spiked up his spine. As much as he liked seeing Kincaid being ruthless, he also did still blame himself for trapping her in Nuka World. He did still hire her on to do his dirty work, to have the target painted on her back instead of his- and deep down, he was still afraid she blamed him for it. 

“Like him begging would make me forget what he did to God, to Christine, to Boone and Niner, what he did to me.” Kincaid ran her tongue over her teeth. She turned from the two of them as she rubbed an old burn scar across her neck. It clicked for Gage, in that moment. That was why she hated the slave collars so much, why she didn’t like going down to the market, and why she made the raiders work on the renovations instead of the traders. 

“As if begging for my forgiveness would save him from the depths of hell.” Her eyes were dark as she adjusted her coat. She paused for a beat, and Gage found himself focused entirely on her, hanging on her every word. “And Nisha?” Kincaid looked at Gage specifically. “She can expect the same fuckin’ fate. Unless she decides to be content with scraps.” The thought of Kincaid going up against Nisha was like an unstoppable force going against an immovable object. He wasn’t quite sure which was which, but he was sure that everything around them would to be demolished in the process. It wasn’t a comforting thought, it brought flashes of Nuka World in flames to mind, burning down around him. 

He glanced over at Mason to see a wide grin over the alpha’s face. Mason looked like he was really seeing Kincaid for the first time, and he loved her. 

“Holy shit, Caid.” Mason sighed as he pushed his hair back. “I mean, we all heard the rumors outta Vegas. But this?” Mason walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at the massive man. “Shit, it’s beautiful Boss-Lady. And you try sayin’ you aren’t a raider.”

Gage REALLY didn’t like that. 

He probably should have thought about it, but he didn’t. He didn’t think at all before he put himself between Caid and Mason. He didn’t even think twice about squaring his shoulders and getting in Mason’s space. He should have, he should have backed off, let the two of them have their moment. But he didn’t. Instead, he let out a snarl and his hand went for the knife tucked away on his belt. Mason’s eyes locked on him and a big, toothy smile stretched across his face. Those sharpened teeth were as much bared in a threat as they were in amusement. Gage was a lot smaller than Mason, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a threat. 

And with the adrenaline now pounding through his veins, Gage felt like he could take the mountain of a man on. Hell, if Nisha threatened Kincaid, he’d take her on too. He’d burn the entire damn park to the ground for the Overboss. 

Kincaid stepped between them and put a hand on Gage’s chest. Like he was more likely to snap then Mason was. That was ridiculous, and Gage shot her a look. Mason let out a bark of a laugh and let his hand rest on the hilt of a machete attached to his belt. He sized Gage up, and it wasn’t like Gage was the same scrawny little thing Colter liked to throw around. In the months since Kincaid’s rise to power, Gage had put on some muscle. Even as sick as he had been over the last month he had worked hard to keep himself in shape. It wouldn’t do to get fat and lazy, that was what killed lesser men. Gage prided himself on being better.

“Tired of being the punching bag, Porter?” His voice was mocking, and it wormed its way into Gage’s brain like Mason was tap dancing on his every nerve. “You decide you got teeth now that Colter ain’t here to kick your shit in?” Gage froze up, his blood like ice through his veins. 

Maybe he’d just punch the alpha, consequences be damned. He wasn’t some half-starved mongrel without teeth and bit just as hard as any other dog. He wasn’t in a corner anymore, it wasn’t like if he picked a fight Kincaid wouldn’t stand behind him. She’d just said it herself, she wasn’t going to let anyone hurt him. Maybe he could afford to make a stupid decision. 

“What? Ain’t got no snappy comeback?”

Gage felt his fist connect with Mason’s nose, he hadn’t even realized he’d thrown the punch until Kincaid’s arms were around his chest and Mason was sent reeling back. He was hauled backward towards the weapons benches and for a moment, all he could see was red. He was fucking tired of being treated like shit. He’d given everything for these damn parks, for these damn gangs. He’d bled for these parks, which was more then most of the raiders could claim. He coulda cut and run when Colter started to be a fuck; he coulda just left it all to burn. Hell, he probably should have just taken off in the night and been a good ways west before anyone thought to look for him. But he didn’t. Instead, he got them Kincaid, and he convinced her to stay against everything, convinced her to become a raider. They owed him at least the barest respect, at the fucking least. 

Mason was staring at him, looking scandalized. Gage let out a roar and tried to kick at the alpha as Kincaid drug him backward. “Porter you fucking dumbass!” Kincaid gasped out as she held onto his squirming form. “Porter calm the fuck down!” 

He didn’t want to calm down. He wanted to break Mason’s nose and kick him in the gut and maybe, just maybe, bury his knife between his ribs. Maybe not that far, but it would have been satisfying at least. He wanted to make Mason pay for every jibe and prod that he and every other raider in the parks had thrown Gage’s way. He wanted revenge, for once in his life. Gage squirmed against Kincaid and kicked out violently before he plucked his boot knife from its sheath and threw it. It arced wide and missed the Pack Animal by a couple of inches before it buried itself in the table behind Mason, sinking a good 3 inches into the wood of the table leg with a twang. Mason stared at the vibrating knife before looking back at Gage and Kincaid.

Gage was panting against Kincaid now, he was still angry, but cognizant thought was returning. That was dumb, that was really fucking dumb and he wouldn’t fault Kincaid for kicking his ass, or banning him from going to the next park, or any other number of punishments he could have come up with if given more time. He sagged against her, unable to catch his breath and thankful for her grip around him. His chest hurt and for a moment he remembered that Mackenzie had only just cleared him for light exertion for a reason.

“Jesus Christ, Porter, you get so fucking stir crazy,” Kincaid sighed and kept him held tight against her chest. “Just gonna pick a fight with anyone huh? Mason, Daniels, Joe Blow down the street? A crab over in the river?” she asked, but it was more teasing than serious. Gage coughed and grumbled under his breath as Mason pulled himself to his feet. He kept his eye locked on the Alpha though, he expected retaliation- a punch, a verbal jibe, anything. 

“I didn’t think you had that in you, Gage,” Mason said as he wiped his nose with the back of his hand. “Yeah, I probably deserved that, but fucking hell- I expected you to give me some low blow come back.” Mason flicked the blood away, ignoring the smear of red across his face. “If you’re not careful, I might actually start to fucking respect you.” Mason went over to the table and gave the knife a solid tug. It didn’t come out easily, and Mason just tapped it to see it keep vibrating. Gage wanted nothing more then to punch the alpha again, but resisted the urge when Kincaid let him go. Instead, he worked on straightening out his clothing and getting his breathing under control. “Too bad your aim sucks. Maybe you should practice your knife throwing there.”

“He wasn’t aiming for you,” Kincaid said. “If he was, you would have a knife in your gut right now.” For a moment, Gage couldn’t believe he wasn’t getting punished for his outburst. She looked over to him and he couldn’t meet her eye. Punching Mason was a stupid move, he knew it, she knew it. She was probably disappointed in him- and that was worse than anger.

“Now, if you two are done with your little dick measuring contest.” Kincaid had a playful tone, and Gage looked up when she handed him his pistol. “We should get out of here before Bridgeman shows up to rain on this little party.” Gage looked over at Kincaid as she hauled up his armor, holding it out for him. He took the bulky frame from her and made his way past Mason. He grabbed the hilt of his knife and pulled it out with one sharp tug and spun around his fingers before returning it to the sheath on his belt. He shot Mason a look before he put on his roll cage, and the Alpha held his gaze.

Kincaid made a noise and Mason looked away, Gage glared at the back of his head before turning away. He slid into the cage and started to adjust each of the buckles. His hands were well practiced, and soon he felt safer behind the freshly painted yellow bars. He slid his pauldrons on as Mason and Kincaid talked specifics about what kind of hunting party Mason was going to bring. 

“It sounded big, like deathclaws,” Kincaid pointed out, and Mason nodded. “So we’re gonna want big caliber rifles, and plenty of netting and rope- in case we need to trap them. Explosives worked last time we fought one, but we might want to leave that as a last resort, like the flamers.” 

Gage looked over at ED-E, who was just floating by the table. It let out a sad little beep and Gage sighed, hooking his thumbs into his pockets. 

“I ain’t much for big game hunting either,” he told the bot lowly, and ED-E beeped in agreement. “How many were there?” Gage asked, and ED-E beeped many times. Gage wasn’t sure if he was supposed to take each beep as an indicator of how many, or if it was just supposed to mean that there was just a lot of them. Didn’t really matter he s’posed, they’d have to die all the same. 

They got almost all the way to the Zoo, where they would pick up a couple of ATVs and the supplies Mason had promised before Makenzie spotted them and came out of the market. Gage kinda hoped they could just keep going, but Kincaid put far too much stock in manners to allow for that. Caid gave Bridgeman a bright smile.

“Hot out today, isn’t it?” Kincaid said, as though the doctor wasn’t on a warpath. “Don’t worry, I’m making sure we’re drinking enough water to stay hydrated.” As a rule, Gage wasn’t scared of slaves, even when they managed to get their hands on a weapon some dumbass just left around for them to find. They were weak and spineless, but not Makenzie Bridgeman. He was half sure she could leave anytime she damn wanted to but chose not to out of some misguided loyalty to the other slaves. She had this stare that had even made Colter sit down and shut up when she had to tend to his rare injuries. Kincaid didn’t even flinch.

“That’s all well and good, Boss, but it looks like you all are headed out on some hairbrained adventure, and I sure as hell didn’t clear Porter for that,” Makenzie said. She crossed her arms over her chest and it didn’t look like she was going to budge an inch.

“Oh! We’re just going on a social visit to the Zoo, take stock of supplies, make a plan, figure out who we’re gonna take when we go after the next park.” Kincaid responded blithely, her smile never wavering. Mackenzie’s gaze shifted over to Gage, and for a moment he withered. He wanted to move behind Mason even if it was only a step, to hide from the doctor. 

But his pride was all he really had, so instead he squared his shoulders and puffed out his chest slightly. If Kincaid wasn’t afraid, then he wasn’t going to be afraid either. He wasn’t afraid, and if he told himself that enough times maybe he could convince himself of it. 

“And that’s why Porter’s in full armor, in the middle of summer, during the hottest part of the day?” Bridgeman asked. She moved her hands to her hips in a move that Colter would have had someone punished over. She raised an eyebrow and matched Kincaid’s stare. Kincaid paused for a beat, just a moment, just enough that Porter felt his stomach flip. He could feel his anxiety bubbling up to his throat.

“Because the Disciples got bees in their britches, so to speak,” Kincaid said with a tilt of her head. “And I don’t want to turn my back and lose my second just because they think he might be easy pickin’ from bein’ sick.” 

“Fair,” Bridgeman conceded with narrowed eyes. She watched them leave towards the Zoo, and Gage locked eyes with her for a moment. He could tell she knew Kincaid was lying; he could feel it radiate off of her. But she wasn’t going to call the boss out, not in the middle of the crowded market, not in front of the roamers and the tourists. It was a smart move on Bridgeman’s part, but Gage knew if he got hurt because of this, Kincaid would never hear the end of it- and she’d not trust the boss ever again.

Hell, he’d probably end up having to stay in her little clinic. 

He really didn’t like the idea of that at all. Gage shook the thought from his head and padded after Mason, Caid, and ED-E as they chattered and beeped among themselves about the statistics involved in taking Safari Adventure.

Gage could feel the eyes on him as they made their way through the zoo and into the backstage. He hadn’t been seen outside of Fizztop since the gangs took Dry Rock, and he knew the rumors that Russell liked to relay to him. A lot of folks figured he’d died, or been maimed beyond recognition. Russ had told him the most popular rumor was that he had one of his arms chewed off. It wasn’t true, obviously, but it didn’t stop raiders from gossiping just the same. 

And it didn’t stop the eyes locked on him as he followed the bosses into Mason’s little war room. 

“Charlie, go fetch Team Pink and Team Green. We’re going hunting,” Mason told a little pack runt, who scampered off. “I’m figuring we take two main teams,” Mason said as he spread out one of Kincaid’s maps on the central table. “And we go in through the front door. What my people have found is that the Zoo? It ain’t nothin’ compared to Safari Adventure. I’ve had my eye on this park since we moved our pretty little asses into Nuka Town.”

“Of course,” Kincaid replied as she looked over the map. “It was practically made for y’all.” 

“Look, Boss, I’m gonna level with you.” Mason started, standing up straight. “I was about to start goin’ behind Colter’s back, and start takin’ the parks for the Pack, Overboss be damned.” Gage just stared at him. Mason had been planning a mutiny, and sure, all the Bosses were done with Colter’s shit- but actually taking the parks? The worst part was Gage probably would have gotten behind it if Mason had asked him. “Then you showed up and actually started doin’ the work for me. Sure it means I gotta share the parks, but I’d take that over throwin’ Pack lives at the problem every time.” Mason smiled at Kincaid and casually leaned against the table. “Besides, I like you. You’re a good boss, not a turd.” 

Kincaid laughed and Gage watched the two of them, keeping quiet as Mason explained how much information he had on each of the individual parks. “So with Safari, what my folks have found out is that it's full, chock fuckin’ full, of mutated animals. And some of ‘em have more than the normal mutations. The fact these things are clones makes it all make a lot more sense.” Mason told Kincaid, throwing down some pictures. They were grainy and blurry, but they showed some of the wildlife in the park. There were massive birds and giant fucking deer with massive racks, and in one of the photos? Something big lingering in murky water in an old cage. It had a beady baleful gaze and intelligence behind its eyes. 

“That looks a hell of a lot like a Rad-Gator,” Gage said quietly. He picked up the picture to get a closer look. It had the right face shape, but the way it sat in the water was wrong. It didn’t look like a log, the way that gators were supposed to. The shape in the water was entirely too large for the size of its head, and he could see the tail in the murky pool was at entirely the wrong angle. He tossed the photo back on the table. Mason looked down at the photo and then back up at Gage. 

“A what now?” Mason asked, and Gage pulled his hand down his face. 

“A Rad-Gator. Fought ‘em a lot down in the Gulf, but it ain’t got the right shape in the water. It should be on all fours when it moves, but this one looks like it’s up on two, like a deathclaw.” Kincaid pulled the photo closer, squinting at it.

“Its face ain’t quite right either,” Kincaid told Gage, moving around the table and holding the picture for both of them to look at. She was right, of course, Gage hadn’t even noticed how off the snout looked. It was like someone took a gator, fucked it up and made it something just close enough to pass for a gator, but not quite right. It kinda reminded Gage of the singular time he’d seen a synth when he still ran with a gang in the Commonwealth proper. It was one of the metal and plastic ones before rumors popped up of synths that were indistinguishable from normal people. It could pass for human at the quickest of glances, but if you looked at any length, it was clear that they simply weren’t.

It didn’t sit right with Gage, and he found his eye locked on the weird not-gator. The baleful gaze made ice crawl up his spine, and for a moment he could imagine the sort of intelligence these creatures must have had. If it was anything like a deathclaw, they were in for a world of hurt. 

What kind of fresh hell had those damn Nuka scientists unleashed in there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting to some good stuff here soon. :3c Safari Adventure should be a fun, well, adventure.


	30. Wild Thing

This place had been civilized once upon a time, with their pretty buildings and cutting edge technology. The signs were all there, the glass pyramid in the center of the park stepped right out of a pre-war magazine about the wonders of the future. Its sun-bleached brick was stark against the growing night, and it loomed over the entire park. 

It loomed like the sins of the fuckers from Nuka Cola who thought they could play god. 

It was crowned with spires of trees. Some of them were dead, void of leaves and with branches scorched pale by the wasteland sun, but there hadn’t been a groundskeeper in a hundred years to haul them away in two hundred years and they grasped at the sky like skeletal fingers like they were reaching for the stars above. 

Gage stepped out of the ATV and shouldered his rifle. The air was still, silent. It was thick, heavy even with pollen and moisture. As night settled in, so too did a thick fog. It blanketed the entire park, heavy but not comforting. 

There were no sounds from the trees or bushes. No bird calls or flutter of wings, and it didn’t even sound like there were radrats in the undergrowth. It had been a long time since Gage had been around an area like this, but there had been plenty of overgrown woods around his house when he was growing up and he’d spent a fair chunk of his early twenties down south in the swamps around the Gulf wastes. The silence was unnatural.

They had started their way into the reserve. By some luck, they could still find game trails in the undergrowth. The ATVs were useless once they were inside, though. The paths were too narrow for even the most slender of the Pack’s quads. The concrete roads once followed by tourists were now overgrown with plants, by the sheer force of will. He swore these plants had more willpower than some wasters he’d known, that cracked through the concrete to see the sun. He could feel the eyes on him even though he couldn’t see them, couldn’t hear them. He could just feel the gaze of creatures that called this jungle their home from the bushes. But they stayed away, stayed just out of view. 

It was like they were hiding.

From what, Gage had no idea. He padded through the undergrowth as quiet as he could manage, machete at the ready. He lingered close to Kincaid and Mason as they moved slowly through the darkening underbrush. He was surprised how effectively the Pack facepaint and armor broke up their silhouette among the plant life in the park. He couldn’t get an accurate count on how many runts had followed them in, beyond the vague concept of many. He kept low, the hair on the back of his neck standing straight on end. Something was following them, tailing them, just out of sight. He could feel its gaze crawl across his skin like bugs. No matter now often he glanced around them, he didn’t see anything. No eyes, no movement, nothing. 

He liked to think he was prepared for anything. He was not. 

It came charging out of the underbrush like a freight truck barrels down the old world roads. It slammed into the Pack Animals like they were nothing, knocking over several of the larger men in Mason’s entourage. The men cried out in pain and shock, and even before Gage had registered what the fuck the grey-green shape was he had his rifle up in his dominant hand. His machete found its sheath as he sprayed a volley of bullets into the grey-green form of- well, something.

It was something big, something muscled, with broad shoulders and the ridged back of an alligator. It twisted around to look at him. He wasn’t the only one shooting it by far, but he felt that baleful gaze lock onto him and he froze. The blood in his veins ran cold, like ice water was being pumped through his heart. The single second stretched out before him, and he watched as it seemed to move in slow motion. Its heavy feet crunched the undergrowth as it turned to him, its forelimbs landing on the ground as its tail swung around and curled. Gage couldn’t move, he couldn’t breathe. 

And then Kincaid slammed into his side so hard he felt his spine pop. they both tumbled away as the massive creature charged, galloping into the space they vacated. Pack Animals descended on it like a horde of screaming apes, hacking at its hard flesh with their knives and their machetes. Blood sprayed the foliage and Gage watched mesmerized as the blood dripped down, splattering the forest floor. 

“Head in the game, Gage!” Kincaid snarled and Gage came to with a jolt. All the sudden time was back to normal and he saw the monster thrashing around, thrashing its head back and forth to rip an unfortunate Pack hunter’s arm clean off at the shoulder. 

Kincaid winced, taking a few steps back as she lined up the shot with her massive rifle. Gage followed, moving out of range of the things long tail. Her rifle cracked and the bullet sank deep into the flesh of the creature’s shoulder. It let out a loud, guttural scream as it thrashed around. Its shoulder was blown to pieces, chunks of flesh and meat hanging off as blood oozed from the ruined joint. Kincaid slipped in another bullet into the chamber, walking and lining up another shot. 

Apes and birds above them started screaming, shrieking and causing a racket that was deafening. It was like a demon choir had decided to play at full volume, its vibrant array of voices shrieking in dismay, in pain, in blood lust. The mutated apes above them howled, shaking branches and causing leaf litter to rain down on them as Pack Animals tried desperately to stop this unholy creature before them. It did little, but they tried. 

It rounded on her and started to rise up into its hind legs. It took a lumbering step forward, then another. And much like every other raider in the party, Gage aimed straight for its soft underbelly and released a volley of bullets. Most of them barely pierced the flesh, but the crack of Kincaid’s rifle rang out again and the beast fell forward, most of its throat blown apart by her .50 caliber bullet. The monster teetered slightly before falling forward, crashing into the ground with enough weight Gage felt the earth shake below him. He stared at the beast, the not-gator, his heart pounding in his ears. It was bigger than the picture suggested, and the way it moved unsettled him. 

It was like the worst parts of a deathclaw, mashed up with what he remembered of the rad-gators. 

The Pack descended on the corpse like rabid dogs, hunting knives out and at the ready as they started to gut the creature and peel back the flesh. Gage was intimately aware of the process of dressing a kill, so he turned to Kincaid. She was just staring at the thing, holding her rifle in a white knuckle grip. Gage was almost afraid she was going to be scared, but he watched her lips pull across her teeth. She turned to him with a sharp smile that made his heart skip a beat. 

“That was fun,” she let out a low chuckle as ED-E swayed around her. “I hope there are more,” she spoke in a low whisper, and Gage could see her just about vibrate in excitement. Gage could feel it creep into his bones, and he found his face splitting into a smile with her. It was infectious. They had killed the thing, and only a few Pack Animals were worse for wear. If this was all this park had to offer, it would be a quick and painless take over that would solidify Kincaid’s position as Overboss. 

If they hauled one of these bastards back to Nuka Town, even Nisha wouldn’t be able to say shit about Kincaid. No one would even think twice about crossing her, unless they wanted a .50 caliber bullet between the eyes. It made Gage damn near giddy, for once, shit was looking up. He looked back at the now dressed corpse that the Pack was starting to hack apart and drag off. It was the start of an era, and with Nuka World, the start of an empire. 

ED-E beeped shrilly and brought Gage out of his excited haze. The raider turned and glared at the ball of glorified scrap as it booped and beeped and wove around Kincaid in some sort of intricate dance. 

“What is it ED-E my love?” Kincaid asked the bot all kindly like. She held it so gentle and for a moment Gage felt a pang of jealousy build in his guts. He shoved that down as she cooed and coddled the bot. She brushed her thumb over the bot’s protective grating and Gage felt his face start to flush. He looked away, and hooked his thumbs in his belt before spitting. It was stupid, being jealous of a robot. 

But the way she looked at it? He wanted her to look at him like that. 

But she was a lesbian. She would never look at him like that. Never. He needed to get over it, get past it, get himself together. It just made him angrier though, and he decided it was time for a smoke. There wasn’t likely any bots that would come shambling up to coat him in fire retardant, nor sprinklers to douse him in ice cold water. He had to have been pretty safe in the jungle. The first drag calmed his nerves, the second helped his temper. 

He let the smoke flow from his nose, and he looked back over at Kincaid. It was enough, to be her friend. He deserved far less, and christ, it was a privilege to know her so far as Gage was concerned. It hurt, it hurt deep in his guts, but such was life he s’posed. 

“The fuck does that thing want?” Mason asked as he made his way over to them. He was covered in gore, looking like he’d just crawled out of a brahmin’s insides. He held his skinning knife in hand, but it didn’t seem threatening to Gage. Mason looked over and Gage shrugged, so Mason turned his attention back to the boss. 

Kincaid tilted her head, staring right into ED-E’s optical sensor before shrugging. “Fuck if I know,” she didn’t elaborate and instead went back to trying to calm the eye-bot. It refused however, vibrating in place as its beeping got more and more shrill. It dove out of Kincaid’s grasp and its little jets worked overtime as it vaulted itself over a fallen log, heading straight into the woods. 

“ED-E!” Kincaid shrieked, her eyes wide as she charged after the piece of scrap. 

“Kincaid!” Gage choked out as he dropped his cig and ran after her. They had no idea how many more of those not-gators were in the park, or what else could be lurking between the ancient trees. He heard Mason call out behind them, but he was afraid. He was afraid of losing Kincaid because of her attachment to a bot who was stupider than a sack of rocks. Gage ducked under a branch, barely catching glimpses of Kincaid’s coat tails as she ran after her little eyebot. 

He tried to stay on her heels; he tried so hard to keep up with her. Still though, he soon found himself alone, in a clearing that was quickly getting darker. It had been a long time since he had to track anything in underbrush like this, but he’d spend enough time in the swamps of the Gulf Commonwealth to know how to do it. He had to try to find Caid before it got too dark, before those things got to her. He could track with the tiny flash on his utilitool, but it wouldn’t be ideal. It wasn’t hard to find signs that Kincaid had been through. Even where the bush was too thick to see her tracks, she left broken branches and stepped on flowers in her hurry to chase after her dumb bot. It was slower to move through thicket than on a trail, so he hoped that meant he could catch up to her sooner. 

Gage had only been following the little signs of her for less than ten minutes when he heard a loud screech. That was unmistakably Ed-E, with its headache-inducing shrill beeps. It was off in the distance somewhat, but close enough, and the noise came from the direction he was already headed. He could only hope where Ed-E was, Kincaid would be right behind it. Well, that and that they hadn’t stumbled upon another one of those not-gator mutants, or a nest of them.

Perhaps there was a lot he could hope for.

When he finally freed himself from the thickest part of the trees, he reached some kind of a clearing. The underbrush gave way to a walkway paved with brick. It was mostly intact, with tiny grasses and weeds forced through cracks and in between bricks. He gazed up at a bleached brick building, with an old run-down sign and a heavy double door. He couldn’t make out the faded words on the sign in the growing dark, nor was his flashlight strong enough to actually illuminate it so he turned to the set of double doors instead. One was closed, but the second was left ever so slightly ajar. He was fairly certain Kincaid had gone inside, but the raider in him had to know more before he just went in. Going in without all the facts could get him killed.

As quietly as he could manage, Gage sided up to the open door and tried to peek through the crack. There wasn’t much in the way of light. He wasn’t surprised that the overhead lights wouldn’t work since he couldn’t see or hear any generators, but it did make it harder to see what the fuck he was dealing with. He spotted Kincaid, though her back was turned to him. It looked like she was talking to someone, but he couldn’t make out who, exactly. Just in shadow, the person looked a bit like Mason, with a well-muscled silhouette. Gage couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw a board in the person’s hands. No one in their fucking right mind used a board as a weapon unless they had to. Even the raiders who favored melee weapons tended to prefer knives and bats, with Mason’s sledge as a pretty big outlier.

Even though the person held a weapon, he didn’t think Kincaid was in any immediate danger. The figure didn’t have it at the ready, everyone was relaxed, none of their body language suggested they were about to fight. Ed-E hovered just barely in view, and it quietly beeped a pleased little tune without a real melody, as if they weren’t in the middle of a park that was proving just as dangerous as the others they’d taken. Gage was gonna fuckin’ scrap that bot if he ever got the chance. But, if Caid was in any real danger, he didn’t think it’d be so relaxed. Gage figured it was probably safe for him to go in too.

He tried to stay quiet, but the hinge squeaked with decades of rust build up and both Kincaid and the mystery person looked directly at him.

“Gage! What are you doing here?” Kincaid asked with a tilt of her head. “I thought you’d be back with the others,” she looked worried as she turned, and her new friend peeked out from behind her.

“Pink Lady bring more friends?” the person asked. The only light in the room was just a few fever blossoms off to one side, so it was still hard to get a good look at them, but just the way they spoke in broken English set Gage’s teeth on edge. This was the person who was beating the not-gators with their bare hands on the recordings, the person ED-E had spent two weeks with. Gage clutched his rifle tight, his eye locked on this massive wall of a man behind the boss. 

“That’s right, Cito,” Kincaid said to them. “Lots of friends to help fight the monsters. This is Porter Gage, who should be back with the others.” she gave him a pointed look and Gage withered for a moment. 

He looked between the two of them before setting his jaw and squaring his shoulders. “Wasn’t about to let you get eaten because you decided to go prancin’ off after your floatin’ ball of scrap, boss.” Gage countered. Kincaid frowned and Cito moved out behind her so he could get a better look at Gage. Porter’s first impressions were very much correct, this man was exactly as Grognak lookin’ as he fuckin’ sounded in the recording. He had to be as big as Mason at least, and he was clad in only a loincloth that looked like it came right out of one of those Hubris comic shops, clutching a big paddle in his hands. He knew without a doubt that Mason would absolutely love this Grognak costumed motherfucker.

Gage felt like he was being watched though, and a quick scan of the room confirmed it. They were not alone. All around them, just in the shadows, were about forty sets of glowing ghoulish eyes. “Kincaid. We are not alone.” He grit out, keeping his gaze locked on the walls.

“Yeah, that’s Cito’s family,” Kincaid explained as she walked over to Gage. he laid her hand on his arm, and Gage couldn’t figure out if she was trying to calm him down or get him to lower his gun. It was probably both, if Gage thought about it for more than a few seconds. “We’re gonna help them, the Monsters-”

“Boss, we ain’t here to save some Grognak-”

“Cito. His name is Cito,” she growled low, commanding. Gage’s mouth snapped shut and she let out a little sigh. “We, as in you, myself, and the Pack, are going to help them. Once the monsters are gone, they don’t mind if we take the park. I’ve asked already.” Kincaid gave his arm a little pat and Gage frowned.

Cito was watching them, leaning on that massive boat paddle he had. “Can’t go out too long after dark. Monsters come,” Cito explained before standing up and going over to the door. He shoved it closed, the hinges squealing in protest. “Safe here, safe with family.” Cito gave a decisive nod. 

Gage didn’t like it, he didn’t like how the two of them were expected to camp here with ghouls who didn’t even come out into the sparse moonlight to introduce themselves. They didn’t make human noises, so as far as Gage could tell they were probably feral or even half feral as they paced around in the growing darkness. He’d seen stranger things on his travels, if he was honest. Gage had seen houses where desperate families kept ferals chained in the basement, calling them “Auntie Petunia” or some shit as the things would screech and wail. Gage didn’t like this, and he didn’t like Cito. 

But Kincaid was already making her way over to the fever blossom plant, already tossing down her pack and digging out her bedroll. Gage followed, keeping his rifle ready. “You gonna sleep in your armor?” Kincaid asked with a cheeky smile as she pulled off her ceramic plates.

“Yup,” was the only response she got out of Gage, and it made her frown. He sat down, his back to the wall and his gun in his lap as he glared at Kincaid. She ignored him and went about her routine, combing out her curls, digging out their dinner, like they weren’t surrounded on all sides. ED-E beeped at him, and Gage flipped the eye-bot off. 

Its speakers kicked on and Gage narrowed his eyes as his own voice came gritting out of it. “What did I do?!” it asked him, mocking him almost. 

“If it wasn’t for you, I’d be in a fuckin’ tent with a fuckin’ proper cot, not surrounded by god know what and-” 

“Wait, can’t you see them?” Kincaid asked, looking up from her bag. Gage let out a grunt and crossed his arms just under the bars over his chest. “Oh,” Kincaid said softly as she rubbed her neck. “You can’t, can you? It’s too dark.” Kincaid sat back on her calves and it was like the pieces of the puzzle had come together. What puzzle, Gage was not sure, but something had clicked for Kincaid. “Cito’s family is gorillas.” 

Of fucking course they were. Of course. Not feral ghouls, not half feral ghouls. Fucking pre-war apes. Of course. Of course, Grognak had a family. A family of wild animals. Yes, this was fine. Everything was fine. Gage felt fine, he didn’t feel at all like he was going to be eaten in his sleep by feral fucking apes now. 

It must have played across his face because Kincaid got real worried. “Gage?”

“It’s fine,” Gage grit out as his eye locked on the masses moving in the shadows. He was not going to end up sleeping, not in the slightest. Kincaid would sleep, probably all deep and sound like she did, and he’d be awake, he’d be awake until they got back to Mason. And oh, Mason was going to have a field day with this one. A massive wall of muscle that was literally raised by apes? It was the Pack’s wet dream. Mason would probably make this Grognak wanna be his second, and parade him around like he was the best damn haul out of this godforsaken forest. 

“Gage.” Kincaid’s voice pulled him out of his head and he glared at her. She probably didn’t deserve it, maybe, no... she definitely deserved it. So Gage did not feel bad when she looked a little hurt, not in the slightest. “Gage, I didn’t pack much for rations,” of course she didn’t. “But you can have my jerky. You must be hungry after we hiked for so long.”

“Yeah, Boss. That’s fine,” Gage said. He was too tired to argue about it anymore. What was done was done. He was irritated, but it didn’t do him any good to have Caid look at him like he was broken. He’d taken that for too long while he was healing. Kincaid winced and he had to look away. She glanced away and backed off as if he’d stabbed her. He wasn’t sure exactly what he’d done to hurt her, but it was clear as fucking day across her face. He couldn’t handle this too, on top of it all.

Fuck, now he felt bad. He tried to tuck away how tired he was, how irritated he was. She wasn’t supposed to be fuckin’ hurt if he was fine, that was not how shit worked.

He chanced a look over and she still had that pathetic look spread across her face. Her eyes were downcast and she had a packet of jerky in her hands that she was fidgeting with. He still wasn’t sure exactly what kinda meat she used for her jerky, but it wasn’t bad as field rations went. It sure wasn’t a hot meal by Pack cooks, but it was better than a handful of hardtack. 

“Well we might as well eat sooner than later,” Gage said, “so you can get some sleep.”

“You don’t have to take first watch,” Kincaid said. “We’re pretty safe here. Cito says as long as we stay inside, the monsters won’t bother us.”

“One bedroll,” he pointed out. “And you’re the boss.” She didn’t look like she liked that, but she didn’t argue. She just handed over the wax package and laid down in her bedroll. 

Gage stayed up for the night. He didn’t have the heart to wake Kincaid as she slept so softly beside him. He could have woke her up at any time, but it wasn’t like he was going to be able to sleep surrounded by apes, and besides that Cito snored loudly. Very loudly. Gage got up a few times, paced around a little bit, argued with ED-E for a spell. But overall? He spent most the night curled up in the corner, head against the cement as he stared out over the darkness just beyond the gentle glow of the fever blossom plant. 

By the time the light started filtering in through the glass above them, Gage’s eye felt heavy, and he felt like his limbs were made of lead. They were completely surrounded by gorillas, all bedded down in big ole nests. The wild man was among them, drooling into the patchy fur of one of the apes. As the sunlight filtered in, Kincaid shoved herself up and stretched with a yawn and Gage was briefly reminded of his family’s old barn cats. 

“Mornin’ boss,” he croaked. He didn’t mean to croak, but oh did his voice sound rough. He rubbed his throat and looked away, trying to remember if there was any water in his ruck. He reached over and started digging around in it, trying to find a can, or anything really, hell he’d even take a soda at this point. 

Kincaid looked startled as she stared at him though, and he hadn’t been expecting her to get so close. “Gage, didn’t you sleep at all? You didn’t wake me up for watch.” He kept his eye off her so that he could find something to drink.

“Not tired,” Gage muttered as he pawed around in his bag. Nothing, absolutely nothing as far as liquids went. A feat really, and Gage was kind of impressed with how ill prepared they were for this trip. It’s what they got, he s’posed, for following Kincaid the moment she charged off to go take a park. “You got anything to drink in that bag, though?” he asked, looking over to Kincaid finally. 

She dug around in her coat and produced a little plastic water bottle. Gage took it and drank greedily, careful not to let any of the water spill on the dirty concrete. “Thanks,” he told her, handing back the half-empty plastic. “I was fuckin’ parched.” he wiped his lips with the back of his hands and shoved himself up. His head span for a moment, so he braced himself against the wall and focused on breathing real even. 

“Gage you gotta sleep, we can wait to go find-”

“Nah boss, we need to meet back up with Mason. If we’re gone for too long he’s gonna declare himself Overboss and you know how well Mags and Nisha are gonna take that.” he tried to keep it light, but Kincaid just frowned up at him. She didn’t say anything, just hauled herself up, too. By this point, Cito was waking up and rubbing his face. Now that Gage got a better look at him, the kid was only that, a kid. He couldn’t have been any older than his mid-twenties, if Gage had to guess.

“Pink Lady and friends help Cito now?” he asked. Gage was no less irritated than the night before, and he didn’t think any of this was going to get better any time soon. “Some monsters out in day, but more safe.”

“Of course we’ll help, Cito,” Kincaid said. While she was distracted, Gage started to pack away her bedroll and whatever belongings he could find for her. “I brought a whole bunch of friends to help, and we need to go find them.”

“Cito go with new friend?” Cito glanced at them, from Ed-E to Kincaid, even to Gage himself. “Cito kill many monsters. More monsters come. Never stop. Cito scared monster hurt family.” Gage sighed and shook his head. He wasn’t even really looking, but he was sure Kincaid was eating up that sob story with a fucking spoon. It wasn’t even that he thought Cito was lying, but if Gage didn’t have a vested interest in clearing the park of those rad-gator mutants, he probably wouldn’t feel bad scaring Cito and his family off Nuka property, but now Kincaid had gone and gotten attached to Grognak. He could only hope Mason took to the kid as readily as Kincaid had. Knowing Gage’s luck, they would get on like fucking fire on gas and he’d have to deal with Pack talking in broken English too.

“You can come with us if you’d like,” Kincaid said. She turned around, a frown on her face as she grabbed for her bag, which Gage handed to her without comment, so she could dig through it. After a moment, she pulled out a bat, different from her pink one. This one was painted baby blue and had the Pack logo burned into the wood near the top. “Here, you might like this better than that old piece of wood.”

“Cito like shiny thing! Shiny Metal Friend have good friends,” he said as he accepted the painted wood. He took a practice swing in the air and smiled a big dopey smile. Ah, Jesus, Mason was going to love this kid. He was too earnest for his own damn good. “Cito happy, Pink Lady and Yellow Metal Friend.”

Gage took a double take at that. He did not like that fucking nickname. There were worse ones floating around Nuka raiders, but that didn’t make this one good.

“Uh, Cito, I ain’t yellow,” Gage tried. He frowned deeper when Cito laughed.

“Yellow Metal Friend funny. Cito not stupid. Cito know colors.”

Gage sighed again and decided not to push the subject further. This was going to be a long fucking day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're 5 chapters or less from it, from IT!
> 
> If you've read the extra bits, you know their first kiss and their first shebang are quite spontaneous, in a abandoned tunnel- and it happens just past half way through cleaning out Safari. this is the beginning of the end. we're officially half way through the Nuka World DLC.


	31. Heathens

He should have expected it, honestly.

He should have seen the inevitable end, the intestines strung up like twisted party decorations. He should have expected it as the trail got bloodier and bloodier, as he and Cito led Kincaid through the deep wood.

The blood was splattered like Pack paint, slathering the walls in a not quite red that reminded Gage just a little too much of Nuka Cola. 

“Jesus Christ,” Kincaid muttered as she made her way into the camp, the only sounds were the animals above them in the canopy and the jets of her little scrap bot. 

“Christ ain’t got no place here boss,” Gage told her. He crouched down beside the body of a pack animal, ripped to pieces and barely recognizable as human. He poked it with the end of his rifle, letting out a sigh when the head rolled. Its face was fleshless, torn clear off. There were several other bodies, but this poor bastard was one of the few human ones. The Pack had put up a fight, and it looked like they lost. 

“This looks bad,” Kincaid said, ED-E beeped in agreement. She ran a finger through a splatter of blood on one canvas tent and Gage looked away so he didn’t have to watch her lick that finger. “It’s human,” she confirmed, and Gage shuddered. He focused on the camp, on the deep gouges through the ground, the trees, the tents. Whatever had attacked was massive, and there was more than one. 

The camp was wrecked as if they were attacked in the middle of their meal. The kettle used by camp cooks was overturned in the firepit, the utensils scattered. There were guns, and kits to maintain them, left open. There were bullet holes in the trees, and Gage tried to see if he could guess how the animals moved through the camp. He followed the signs of battle, the discarded bullet shells, the cuts, the scrapes, the blood splatters. 

Whatever attacked them could very well still be alive and it could be nearby. Gage swung around to say something to them, but Cito was pawing at one of the tents with a rip along one side.

“Not big monster,” Cito said. Gage didn’t like the sound of that. He could deal with whatever these deathclaw-radgator hybrids were, but he did not like the idea there was a second ‘monster’ in the park too.

“What do you mean, Cito?” Kincaid asked in a gentle tone, the same sorta soft shit she usually reserved for her floating bot. Gage scanned the trees again to see if there was anything in the distance, but there was nothing. They didn’t have time to sit and chat about it like they weren’t in fucking danger.

“Big monster have three claws, small monster have four,” Cito supplied and pointed at the tears so Caid could see what he meant. “Many more small monster, but Cito not worried. They easy to kill. Big monster hard. Big monster tough.”

“Well big or small, it could still be out there,” Gage said. “We should keep moving.” Caid nodded and Gage scanned the underbrush for a blood trail. There were a few, where it looked like Pack scattered into the trees when they were ambushed, but only one was super obvious. It wasn’t on a worn path, Gage expected that. It was harder to track prey over rough terrain.

He cut his way through the brush that the Pack animals must have just charged through, and with Kincaid, ED-E, and Grognak on his heels, he followed the trail about fifty feet. Above them, monkeys and birds chattered loudly. If anything was following them, Gage could not tell. He followed the blood to its abrupt end, and every hair on the back of his neck stood up. 

“Kincaid-” he started as he turned, and that was when he saw them. He saw the bright red eyes first, and before he could even think he grabbed Kincaid by the shoulder and pulled her back behind him. 

Red-Eyes were nothing to be trifled with, while they weren’t much on their own, Gage had seen many a raider caught off guard by a pack of them and ripped to shreds by their sharp little teeth. He was surprised to see them here though, so far north. Last he’d seen these little bastards were in the swamps down in Florida. It didn’t matter too much though, they died to bullets all the same, and their hides were not near so tough as the not-gators.

He let out a spray of bullets with his rifle, warding off the little bastards as they waddled forward. Their jaws snapped and they chattered among themselves, edging closer as Gage backed himself and Kincaid up. Cito followed close, clutching the bat Kincaid had given him. 

“Geckos?!” Kincaid squeaked as she looked over Gage’s shoulder. “They’re like Geckos! Little sharper and bigger mouths but they’re like geckos!” Gage winced away from her shrill voice as she tried to move around him. Gage put his arm out and held her back, giving her a look.

Cito watched as Kincaid struggled against Gage, trying to see the little lizards better. “Little monsters die fast,” Cito told Gage as he steadied himself. If the bastard wanted to go up against the teeth with legs with just a bat, more power to him. Gage was just fine shooting them from a distance. “But they get big monsters, lead them to us.” 

“Course the Red-Eyes shacked up with those things,” Gage growled, and Cito looked back over at him. The beast of a man tilted his head and Gage let out a huff. “These things are Red-Eyes. They’re all over the fuckin’ south.”

“Red-Eyes,” Cito repeated, slowly like the word was hard to form, before looking back at the gang of angry little reptilians that were waiting for them to let their guard down. One of them stomped forward, snapping its jaws at them. Gage fired right into its mouth and the thing recoiled with a screech. For the most part, he wasn’t worried. These things got dangerous in groups, but even then, he could take them out without a real problem.

Then he heard a familiar roar off in the distance. He hadn’t heard it before the day prior, but he’d gotten real acquainted with it since he heard it on Ed-E’s grainy little speaker. He could deal with Red-Eyes for days, those were normal, easy even if you knew your shit. But the not-gators were not something Gage wanted to deal with right now.

“We should move,” Gage said. “Now.” He had no idea where to, though. These little fuckers would follow them if they moved on foot, and it sounded like wherever these things found prey, the not-gators were sure to show up. He glanced around the clearing, the only easy way out was blocked by little bastards, and the rest of them would have to hack their way through. The moment their back turned though, the Red-Eyes would be on them. 

Gage weighed his options as he and Kincaid fired at the Red-Eyes that were fanning out before them. “Got a plan, Porter?” Kincaid asked, and to be truthful, there was none. She was deadly, full stop, but no matter how they, more and more of the little bastards kept coming. The Red-Eyes were getting closer and closer until Grognak could hit them with his bat. Their jaws snapped at the group’s heels as they were pressed farther and farther back into the brush. 

A gunshot rang out and the bullet went straight through the skull of a Red-Eye about to take a bite out of Kincaid’s leg. Her head snapped up towards the sound and Gage followed her line of sight. Above, dressed as much in armor as they were in foliage, was a Pack Animal. One of many, Gage realized. 

“Wassup Boss-Lady!” a familiar voice called out, but Gage could not see him. A rope, however, tumbled from the trees, and Kincaid wasted no time urging Cito up it as Pack Animals let loose a hail of bullets. The Red-Eyes scattered to avoid being hit.

As soon as Cito had made it up, Kincaid grabbed Gage’s shoulder. “Up the rope!” she demanded, Gage shook his head. “Gage, so help me god-” He was not about to follow that order, that was the sort of order that got the boss killed. No, he wasn’t going anywhere until she was safe in the trees. Or, as safe as one could get in Safari Adventure. 

“Boss get your ass in that tree right now!” Gage snarled as he shot a particularly brave lizard. “You go, I’ll follow. That’s my job.” 

“Gage! Get your entire ass up that tree right now!” Kincaid snarled loudly, but it didn’t drown out the heavy thunder of massive footsteps. One of those things were coming, and it would soon be on them. 

Gage looked to Kincaid and he could see how angry she was written so plain across her face. If they weren’t a minute away from being in a not-Gator stomach, he’d have laughed, probably. It was almost comical how the veins on her forehead popped just so. Had it been Colter? Gage would have been up that tree in a heartbeat. But this was Kincaid, and though he’d never admit it out loud, he’d probably die for her. As it was, he just snorted and tried to fix her with a glare. It worked about as well as one would expect, but at least Gage tried.

“Boss-Lady! You got about ten seconds before I drop down and grab your ass!” Mason shouted, and Kincaid looked up. She frowned and turned, grabbing the rope and hauling her ass up the tree. Good. That was how it was supposed to go. Gage backed up, grabbing the rope with his free hand as he sprayed the last of the Red-Eyes with one last volley of bullets.

The brush cracked and the ground rumbled and Gage turned and let his rifle hang from the straps. Just as fast as he could climb, the Pack started to pull up the rope. Through the trees crashed one of the not-gators, just as big as the last one. It stared up at him with baleful eyes and Gage ascended, and its roar made his ears ring. He held on tight as Pack Animals pulled him higher. 

Mason’s meaty hands were on him just as fast as Kincaid’s were and they both hauled him up onto a thick branch. Gage shrugged them away, his eye locked on the beast below as it paced. It roared again and scratched at the ground below them. 

“It attacked us last night, took out some of my best people,” Mason growled, leveling his rifle. He shot at it, but the bullet glanced off its hide. “We had to go and regroup. What about you, Boss-Lady?” Mason asked as the thing stalked off. 

Kincaid looked to Cito, who was surrounded by curious Pack Animals. “We stayed with Cito. He’s ED-E’s friend, the one who was killing these things near barehanded,” Kincaid told Mason, who looked over at the wildman. He tilted his head and watched how Cito interacted with the Pack. It would have been heartwarming, almost, if they weren’t surrounded by bloodthirsty wild animals and it wasn’t a brightly painted raider gang that looked like they were trying to become one with the trees.

“Holy shit,” Mason whispered, under his breath. He stood up and Cito looked to him, all bright and innocent and untainted. “Name’s Mason, you?” Mason asked, and Gage rolled his eye. Kincaid had just said Grognak’s name, but of course, Mason wanted to do proper introductions while just below them death incarnate stalked the underbrush. 

Gage got up and brushed himself off and Cito and Mason exchanged primitive pleasantries. Kincaid seemed pleased though, so that was something. While the two savages hit it off, she came up beside Gage, hooking her thumbs in her belt. 

“Next time I tell you to go first. Do it,” Kincaid told him, looking over. “I ain’t gonna have your blood on my hands, Gage. And one of us has metal bones.” 

“No can do, boss,” Gage told her, not bothering to look over at her. “There are certain expectations. And if I had gone up that rope first in front of his Pack, Mason would have tanned my hide.” Not to mention he wouldn’t have left her down there, but those were soft thoughts, things that didn’t need voicing when there were other raiders around. He looked over at Kincaid and she looked confused and annoyed. “You’re the Overboss, priority number one,” Gage told her quietly, “if you die, the whole operation goes to shit. It’s my job to make sure that don’t happen, and leaving you down there?” As if to punctuate his point, the not-gator paced around the base of the tree, staring up at them. “That’s a death sentence. For both us.” 

She wasn’t happy, but it didn’t really matter too much. As soon as Mason was done talking with Grognak the party moved to head out. Mason put Cito in the lead, describing a massive treehouse as their destination. Cito had smiled and nodded vigorously and told them proudly that he knew the way. Gage was familiar with the treetop restaurant on the map, but he had doubts on if the structure was really going to be sound after so long. 

Apparently, the Pack had made camp there though, so it wasn’t like Gage got much a say. He could only hope that it was made of the same not-wood that made up most of Dry Rock Gulch. 

Gage followed the main body of Pack Animals, with Caid and Mason making up the rear guard. He pretended he couldn’t hear the argument between them, but they were arguing, and he could hear them just fine. She was trying to convince Mason that Gage was wrong, that he should have gone up the rope first and how much that frustrated her. 

Sucked for her, Gage s’posed, because Mason was just telling her the same damn thing that Gage had said. It wasn’t like Gage knew anything about Mason’s past, but he had been in the game long enough to know how shit worked. 

It also highlighted a flaw in Gage’s overall plan that he would have to rectify as soon as possible. In his haste, he’d just assumed that Kincaid would pick up the dos and don’ts. He’d forgotten that she wasn’t a raider, that she didn’t run with gangs or even in a group. She was a loner, a scavv, a gun for hire. 

She made her own rules, and Gage both loved and hated that. It was gonna get him shanked though, and he loved that a helluva lot less. 

They made their way to the camp, and Gage just did his best not to fall out of a damn tree. He wasn’t sure the Pack would stop for him if he did. Kincaid would make a fuss sure, but it wasn’t like if he hit the ground he was gonna be alive. He made the mistake of looking down at one point, and decided, quite thoroughly, that was a bad idea and he wasn’t going to do it again. His stomach did a flip, his meager dinner of jerky from the night before threatened to make a repeat appearance, and for a second he had to stop and calm his breathing. He wasn’t quite sure how the Pack Animals moved so easily among the canopy. It was like they were part ape. Fuckin’ savages. 

The treehouse, surprisingly, was completely intact. It had a wall on one side but was open to the air on at three sides. It kinda reminded Gage of Fizztop back in Nuka-Town, but that wasn’t surprising. They probably reused a lot of the blueprints for different buildings around the parks. There was an elevator off to one side that looked like it wasn’t rusted enough to be prewar, that had been left in the raised position. It looked like it only held a few people at a time, but it could be an easy escape if they needed it. He followed the Pack animal in front of him in how they climbed over one of the barriers that kept stupid people from falling off and he felt a little safe with something like solid ground under his feet.

Now that he was in the treehouse, he realized it was a lot bigger than it appeared on the map. There were two floors, and this first one was a fresh hell that was a tourist trap gift shop, education information center hybrid. The Pack had already cleared as much of the floor as they could and pitched their tents. 

The raiders that had been with them melded back into the general group and returned to a routine that was probably so familiar it was muscle memory, just as much as it was for him to slip a cigarette into his mouth when he was finally on solid ground. He flicked out his lighter and ignored the fact Cito was just staring at him, watching him light and take a drag off his cig. He raised an eyebrow at the wildman before offering the cig. Likely the kid had never smoked in his life if he was really raised by gorillas, but it seemed like a harmless enough gesture. Cito took it gingerly between his thumb and his forefinger, looking to Gage as he lifted it to his lips. 

“Breathe in,” Gage explained before miming a smoking motion for the wildman. Cito did as told, but the moment the poor bastard took a drag his face scrunched up and he hacked out the smoke like it was poison. 

Well, it was, but that didn’t stop Gage from snickering. 

“Yeah, that shits nasty, don’t accept gifts from ol’ One Eye here- he’s got bad habits,” Mason told Cito as he took the cig from the wild man and shot Gage a look. Gage shrugged and pulled out his pack of cigs again, tapping out another. 

Cito rubbed his mouth and looked to Gage with an expression that reminded Gage of a puppy who just got stepped on. “It okay, Yellow Metal Friend. Thing gross, but Cito still friend.” He nodded sincerely, and Gage almost felt bad. Almost. 

“Yellow Metal Friend?” Mason asked, and Gage could see the gears turning in Mason’s thick skull. He fixed Mason with a glare and the smile just pulled across the alpha’s lips. “I like that. I like that a lot. Yellow-” Fuck. “Metal-” Gage was never going to hear the end of this, never. He’d be turning 90 and Mason would be beside him and be like ‘yellow metal friend’ like the pissant he was. “Friend.” Mason chuckled quietly and Gage rolled his eye, pulling out his lighter and turning away from the alpha. 

“This all friends to fight monsters?” Cito asked. He gestured to the Pack animals going about their duties and got Mason’s attention again. Mason gave him a grin that still didn’t make Gage feel exactly safe, but at least his attention was no longer on Gage.

“That’s right, my new friend. We’re all here to hunt the monsters, find out where they’re coming from and kill ‘em all,” Mason told him with a friendly tap to Grognak’s massive bicep. “Lemme introduce you to my family.” 

Cito followed Mason, and the last Pack animal that stepped over the railing went over to one wall to some kinda crank, just built into the wall. As they wound the crank, a kind of netting rose up around the three open sides. It took Gage a minute to figure out what it was, but he had seen these before. They were prewar mosquito nets. It wouldn’t keep out a determined bloodbug, but it would give them time to respond to an assault from the air.

Gage liked that, he liked that a lot. It gave him ideas for Fizztop Patio, and he dug around in his pockets for his little notebook. When he was finished jotting down his note he found Kincaid standing beside him. He went to pipe up about his new idea but fell silent at the scowl on her face. She wasn’t pleased. She wasn’t pleased at all and it made Gage’s guts churn. 

“Where can we get some dinner?” Kincaid asked, looking over to Gage briefly before surveying the first level of camp. He felt his heart skip a beat and it felt like it was going to thunder right out of his chest. He stammered over his words for a moment and Kincaid looked back at him, her eyebrows knitting together.

He knew she wasn’t Colter, but christ did all the moments Colter made that same face flash through his brain. It wasn’t helpful though, so he did his best to not think about it while he took a drag on his cig to calm his nerves. “Uh, probably upstairs. This was a restaurant, so they probably set up the mess in the kitchen.”

She hummed and set off, which left Gage lingering on the edge of the balcony. He took a moment to let out a heavy sigh, the smoke flowing freely through his nose. Once his brain was in order and his heart had stopped trying to break his ribs he padded off after her. It wouldn’t do to have her harass the camp cooks with no idea what she was doing. 

He made his way up the stairs and found chaos on the second floor. The triage center and Mess hall were still being set up, with Pack medics and Pack cooks scrambling all about to get the heart of the camp running efficiently. A lot of the old kitchen equipment was rusted and dirty and Gage was absolutely glad he was not the one scrubbing them clean. They had gotten a single generator working and it was entirely running a set of four burners that Mason’s head cook was minding. If Gage was to hazard a guess, that was the communal meal in progress.

“Um, Gage, how would I go about getting some food for us?” she asked him quietly. “It doesn’t look like it’s ready.” It wasn’t common to see Kincaid unsure, but she looked just about like a fish outta water. 

Gage looked up at her and shrugged. “You go over and ask. You’re the boss, they got shit for you already.” she looked back at him, then back at the chefs. Her brows were pulled up, and she tilted her head like it was the most perplexing concept he’d ever told her. It was almost cute, and Gage resisted the urge to chuckle. Instead, he motioned for her to follow him. 

He led her over to the counter, and with a casual lean he cleared his throat to get the cook’s attention. Kincaid watched nervously from a distance as the cook turned and set aside a massive onion, she was an older woman with a nasty sneer that looked down her nose at Gage. With a huff, she turned to him and wiped her hands on her apron. 

“The fuck you want?” she grit out before she spit onto the floor. He felt Kincaid tense up, but he was used to this, it wasn’t a real insult- just the back and forth banter that came naturally between impatient raiders and camp cooks who were done with their bullshit. 

“The Overboss is hungry,” Gage said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder at Kincaid. “You got anything she can eat?”

“Why ain’t she askin’ for herself?” The cook narrowed her eyes and glanced between the pair. Gage didn’t need to look at Kincaid to know she shrank back slightly. 

Gage let out a sigh and pushed off the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. “Because she’s a helluva lot nicer than I am. She ain’t wanna impose. I, on the other hand, don’t give a flyin’ fuck if you’re busy. The boss wants food, and she wants it now,”

It was no secret that before Kincaid killed Colter she wasn’t a raider. In fact, for a lot of the general population, it was a sticking point. Why follow someone who wasn’t even a raider? 

Gage looked over at Kincaid, and for a moment his heart skipped a beat. Perspective, mostly, if someone asked Gage. Her unique perspective had Nuka-Town flourishing, bringing in more tourists and more caps then the gangs had damn near ever seen. She was watching him, and he could tell she was nervous, out of her element. He motioned her over with his hand, and soon she was picking her way around busy-body Pack Animals, coming up to the counter too.

The Pack cook looked her up and down with a shrewd glare, her wrinkled eyes narrowing. Seemingly satisfied, she turned to Kincaid and put her hands on the countertop. Several of the other camp cooks had slowed down their tasks, gawking at the scene playing out before them. It was alien to them most likely, the idea of a raider boss who didn’t just take what she wanted, of a boss who thought about what an inconvenience her demands would be on them.

“What kinda food you want, Boss?” The cook asked, gesturing to Kincaid with her knife. Kincaid tilted her head and looked to Gage, then back to the cook. She straightened up and crossed her arms over her chest. Gage wondered if she was aware she was mirroring his posture. 

“Something substantial I guess, like meats and cheese, probably some bread if you have it,” Kincaid told them before looking over at Gage, “and enough for the both of us.” 

“Now wait just a minute, Boss-Lady,” the head chef gestured with her knife, pointing it at Kincaid. “I don’t so much mind you, you’re good. Him though?” she gestured at Porter with the knife and he didn’t care for that shit at all. “I think he can wait like every other Pack Animal. You and Mason, you’s the boss, but him? He’s no better than the rest of us.” 

Kincaid looked panicked for a moment, looking between the chef and Gage. Gage pulled his hand down his face and shook his head. It wasn’t worth it, he knew it, the cook knew it, he just needed Kincaid to get it. She didn’t though. Kincaid went to object and Gage put his hand on her arm. “Boss, it’s fine. That’s just how shit works.”

The chef looked satisfied with that answer, giving him a nod. He knew his place, but Kincaid? Kincaid was not having it. “But Gage, you need to eat something. You haven’t-” Kincaid started and Gage shot her a look. It wasn’t worth the hassle. They’d be in camp with the Pack for at least a few days, if not longer, and Gage wasn’t going to be the reason for any bad blood.

“But you have to eat. You’re still not-” Kincaid started, but stopped at his glare. She frowned and Gage could tell she wasn’t likely to give up this fight easily. The last thing they needed was a problem like this. If he got skinned because she refused to follow the unspoken rules of camp then he was going to be very very pissed. 

“Gage,” Kincaid fussed, and that got the attention of Mason. The alpha sauntered his way over, all casual and shit. Like he didn’t have a care in the world. He’d quickly change his tune though if Kincaid caused a riot in the camp. 

“Everything good over here?” Mason asked as he leaned on the countertop. He had his focus on the cooks, barely even glanced at Gage and Kincaid. The chef shook her head, pointing that knife of hers at Kincaid. Gage didn’t even think about it as he moved between the two. He knew logically, there was no threat, but he was still her second, and he still had a job to do. 

“Nuh, the Boss-Lady won’t be sensible. Wants us to feed him-” she gestured at Gage without looking away from Mason “-before everyone else, and that ain’t right.” The cook shrugged and stabbed the knife into the countertop before crossing her arms. 

“I just wanted enough food for two, and apparently that’s too much to ask for.” Kincaid waved her hand dismissively, wrinkling her nose. In any other circumstance, Gage might have thought it cute, endearing even, but right now? Right now she was tap dancing on his last nerve. 

“I told you it ain’t necessary, Boss,” Gage said with a low growl. “I’ll wait, like everyone else. It’s just how things are done.” Caid didn’t seem like hearing it again and Gage saw her frown deepen. There she went, he was going to have to pull her aside, or she was gonna get them both shot. 

She opened her mouth to argue but it snapped shut as Mason cut her off.

“You should listen to your second more often, Hummin’ Bird,” Mason said. “He’s right. Pack see him gettin’ food before everyone else? I’m gonna hear a ton of bitching all fucking night.” Mason explained, he kept his posture relaxed as he spoke. It wasn’t condescending, but it was firm. Gage appreciated that, even if he’d never voice it. 

“That’s not fair,” Kincaid argued, but Mason shook his head.

“It’s exactly fair,” he countered. “But if you’re eating now, I’ll get a meal too. If that’s okay, Becka?”

“Anything for you, Boss,” she said without any hint of hesitation. Kincaid still had her frown, but she didn’t argue further. She only uncrossed her arms when the cook came back with their meals, which Caid took with a huff. Mason took his food and tilted his head towards the biggest tent. 

Mason, naturally, had the biggest tent, and the only one on the second floor. As Mason invited Kincaid inside, Porter took up post outside. He took a drag on his cig and let out a heavy sigh. He was exhausted, and every muscle in his body ached. He looked around, surveying the old restaurant as Pack Animals scurried about like mice. There wasn’t room for another tent up here, so it was likely Kincaid would be bunking with Mason, and it was likely Gage would have to go find lodgings down below. 

Usually that would bother him, but for some reason he almost trusted Mason not to hurt her. Shanking her in the night wasn’t his style, and the Pack Alpha was fond of the boss. That, and Kincaid had said outright she trusted Mason, and Gage found he trusted her judgment, for the most part. 

“Gage,” Kincaid hissed, and Gage looked down at the flap for the tent. Kincaid was tugging on his pant leg, like she was going to pull him in. “Gage get in here- and don’t give me no shit about ‘that ain’t how it’s done’, get in here!” she growled, and Gage couldn’t help the snort. He couldn’t, he really couldn’t. He ground out his cig on the floor before turning to the tent. 

He pulled aside the flap and entered the tent to see Kincaid curled up on a cushion and Mason lounging on a big blanket. Kincaid patted the ground next to her and Gage obliged. Once he sat down, Mason shoved over a paper plate with a portion of food on it. 

“I can’t take this,” Gage blurted out as he looked first down at the plate and then up to Mason. Mason laughed and Kincaid pinched the bridge of her nose as she let out a groan. 

“Listen, ‘Yellow Metal Friend’,” Mason grinned and Gage narrowed his eye. “Caid’s gone and explained that you ain’t ate since you fuckin’ left Fizztop-”

“I ate-”

“Jerky does not count,” Kincaid countered as she shoved the plate closer to Gage. He stared at her for a moment, then back at Mason. His stomach twisted up and his blood ran cold, a billion scenarios ran through his head, of Pack Animals coming in while they ate and seeing him picking off Mason’s plate, of other Raiders seeing him being doted upon by two bosses. He could imagine the looks they’d give him, the threat of a shiv to his spine. He was already disliked among the ranks, most of the raiders figured him for a manipulative slimy snake- it would just make it worse, make everything worse. Kincaid would lose favor and Mason would-

“Gage!” Kincaid shook his arm and he came out of his skin. He couldn’t breathe, his chest was too tight. Everything was too tight, he needed to get out, he needed to leave the tent and get some air, something, anything but be here, in this moment. “Gage, breathe.” He felt Kincaid’s hand on his arm and his attention snapped to it, his world focusing down to where she was touching him. He sucked in one breath, and then two. 

Mason was watching the two of them, and while he blinked, it didn’t make Gage’s skin crawl any less then Kincaid’s unbreaking stare. “You alright there Porter?” Mason asked quietly. There were no hidden agendas Gage could hear, no jibes or malice or anything. It made it worse, it made it so much worse. Gage swallowed down his anxiety and nodded, staring at the plate in front of him. Kincaid was rubbing his arm, and the feather light touch was doing him no favors. 

“I’m fine,” Gage grit out, taking the plate. His stomach was churning, but he needed them to stop looking at him, to stop focusing on him. He needed to drift away, vanish into the backdrop while they talked strategy. He shoveled a bite into his mouth and his stomach snarled, cramping up violently. 

Mason made a noise and looked back to Kincaid, leaning on his hand as he chewed jerky. “So we got a nice central location right here, and I figure if we can secure a way in and out of the park that’s mostly safe, we could dig in real good and get it clean within’ the month, maybe less.” 

Kincaid nodded, and her hand lifted off of Gage’s arm. He didn't look at her as he scooted farther away from the two, taking the plate with him. Now that he’d taken a bite, he couldn’t resist, no matter how much of his brain screamed at him. He was hungry, violently hungry. He hadn’t felt like this probably since Kincaid had killed Colter. 

The two of them talked about logistics, about setting up caravans like this was some sort of settlement. Any other day Gage would have happily joined in, but at that moment all he wanted to do was curl up in a hole and eat and then sleep. 

He cleared his plate and went to get up, startling Kincaid. “Where are you going?” she asked, grabbing his pants leg as he moved around her. He stopped and he couldn’t bring himself to look at her, he couldn’t do it. She probably had that look she got whenever she was hurt, with her eyebrows all tilted up and eyes all big. It hurt his heart so he refused to look. If he didn’t look she wasn’t doing it right?

“Gonna go find a tent and sleep.” Gage spoke quietly, careful to keep his voice even.

“Like hell you are, you’re sleeping in here with me,” Kincaid countered and he felt her grip on his pants tighten. Gage grit his teeth and looked down at her. Yup, there it was. That god awful look that he couldn’t say no to, that look that would make him give her damn near anything she wanted. He wondered if she knew how much power she had over him, if she actively used it to get him to do exactly as she wanted. He was her puppet, dancing on strings for her amusement. 

“You can sleep in here, you ain’t so much a turd I’m gonna kick you out,” Mason added with a shrug. Gage looked over as the alpha rolled over, grabbing shit out of a pile behind him. He tossed over a bedroll and pillow, hitting the corner where Gage had been eating. Gage swallowed nervously. It wasn’t unusual for the second to share the Boss’ tent, if only to keep the boss from getting shanked. 

But Gage had a very real fear. Mason wasn’t dumb, he knew Mason wasn’t dumb no matter how often he acted like a complete savage. He didn’t want Mason to catch on to the fact he was completely infatuated for Kincaid, he didn’t want Mason to be aware of that crack in his armor. He trusted Mason well enough sure, but that? That was the sort of thing that could get a man killed. 

“Gage, please,” Kincaid said softly, gently, the kind of voice that made Gage’s spine feel all gooey. He looked back over at her and chewed on his lip with a frown. “We’ll be quiet, I promise,” Kincaid told him, patting his leg in what she probably figured was a reassuring gesture. It wasn’t. 

It wasn’t like he could turn down two bosses though, no matter how his brain screamed at him. And he was so god awful tired, he didn’t want to wait his turn to find a cot to fall into. 

“Fine,” Gage told her, turning and going over to that corner. Kincaid seemed pleased with herself, and Mason fell right back into discussing the plan like there was no interruption.

Gage laid out the provided bedroll and slipped out of his armor. He pulled his patch off his face and set it beside his pillow before glancing at Mason. If the man was shocked by the damage he didn’t show it. He just shot Gage a sidelong glance and a quick nod before going back to distracting Kincaid. That was comforting, at least. 

Gage curled up under his blanket, rolling over to face the wall of the tent. He drifted off to the sound of Kincaid’s quiet questions, and Mason’s soft answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gatorclaws aren't the only thing to watch out for in safari adventure.


	32. Fools Rhythm

“Porter, I can’t find Kincaid.”

These were the legitimately worst words Mason could have woken him up with. Honestly, Gage had woken up to some pretty shitty scenarios in his life, but this? This was honestly in the top ten. Top five, if he really thought about it.

He didn’t have time to think about it. He had to get up and make nice with the Pack animals down in the regular camp. He didn’t even have time to eat breakfast. All he had time to do was wipe the sweat from his face and neck with one of his spare chunks of cloth. Mason had run ahead of him with all the energy of a morning person. When Gage came down the stairs, still rubbing gunk out of the corner of his eye, Mason was talking to a Pack girl with green hair.

“-out with the morning hunting party,” she was telling Mason as Gage sidled up. He wasn’t trying to be sneaky, but he knew better than to interrupt one of the bosses, even if it was just with one of their grunts. The Pack animal glanced at him as he might expect normally and then leveled a glare he didn’t think he’d ever seen outside of the Nuka-Town clinic.

“What the hell are you doing out here?” she asked. “I didn’t save your life so you could be mauled by a Gatorclaw.” Gage had no idea how to respond. It wasn’t even the stupid name the Pack animal had given the not-gators. It was the fact he wasn’t even entirely sure who this girl was since the low-level grunts in the Pack were more or less interchangeable to him.

“It’s okay, Sierra,” Mason said. “Can’t baby a raider forever. Gage’ll be fine.” Sierra gave Gage one last glare and turned back to Mason.

“But, like I was saying, the Overboss went out with the morning hunting party, but no one has seen her back yet,” Sierra told her Alpha. “That something we should be worried about?”

“Nah, the hummingbird just got excited. I sent her out scoutin’ with my new man, Cito, since he knows the area better than we do,” Mason said. Sierra then leveled that same, piercing glare at Mason.

“You sure you know what you’re doing with Cito there, Alpha?” she said and Gage had to struggle not to react. In any normal raider gang, talking back to the boss like that would get you hurt real bad at best, killed at worst. “You seem awful ready to declare him Pack without as much as a word to your second.”

“Eh, Tiger’ll get it. He’s got more Pack in ‘im than half my idiots have in their left hands,” Mason said with a dismissive wave. “She’s my second, not my girlfriend. I don’t have to run every little thought by her.” Sierra made a scoffing noise and Gage couldn’t help but gape for just a second. If he had said half of that to Colter, Gage would be hurtin’ for days from the business end of Colter’s favorite heavy wrench. Mason and Sierra ignored him though. “I just wanted to make sure the boss didn’t sneak back in when I was busy. Gage and I will be goin’ out to meet her and see what intel she’s got for us. Not sure how long we’ll be, but keep the troops under control.”

“Yeah, Alpha, like usual,” she said with her own dismissive wave. Without another word, she went over to the crank on the wall and lowered the mosquito net for them. Gage wasn’t keen on going back out into the trees, but it was necessary. He took a tentative step behind Mason and just tried to make sure he would mirror Mason’s movements through the trees. It was slow going, but they were at least making progress.

“You know, I should thank you,” Mason said, only sort of turning his head back so Gage would hear him better. “I heard it was because of you that Sierra got her little side job in the clinic. That really helped expand Pack control in Nuka-World.”

“I didn’t do shit and you know it,” Gage replied. “I ain’t even sure I’ve seen ‘er before today.” Mason stopped and just looked back at him for a second. The alpha looked perplexed almost, like he was trying to figure out what, or if Gage had an angle. Gage did his best to glare at him, but he didn’t think it was all that effective.

“You’re an asshole, you know that?” Mason said with a tilt of his head. “Yellow Metal Friend,” he added with a laugh. Gage scowled and just followed Mason when he started up again. He didn’t much care for the almost friendly way Mason said it, on top of the content of the words themselves.

They’d paused for a minute, to get their bearings. Now that they were free of the scrutiny of the camp, they could take a moment and decide on the next step.

Gage had made an educated guess about the function of the building in the center of the park, and a further guess that Kincaid would make her way towards it. As far as he figured, that was probably the main attraction, and if the cloning facility was anywhere, it was in the basement. Kincaid had been rattled by the idea of cloned animals wandering about all free and shit, so perhaps she went to go and stop it. Maybe, just maybe, she thought she could nix the Gatorclaws at the source. Gage wasn’t sure, but it was more then Mason had. So they set off.

They stayed up at the treetops for as long as they could, but eventually the trees became too far between to reasonably jump. So they landed and Gage tried to stop in the shade for a minute while he wiped away the sweat that had gathered. It wasn’t even the hottest part of the day and he already felt like he was melting a little. Meanwhile Mason looked fresh as a morning daisy. Fucker. He and Mason walked around the sun-bleached brick walls of the central building. Gage had taken a point, and Mason was right behind him with his sledge in hand.

“Not sure where the door is at,” Gage grumbled as they rounded a tree. The plants had grown almost up against the walls of the building, obscuring most of it from view. From up in the TreeTop Grille it had been easy to see, but from the ground, it just looked like another piece of decorative masonry. The Pack Alpha grunted and Gage held his rifle just a little bit tighter. He could feel eyes on him, who or what he wasn’t sure, but something was watching them, stalking them.

“Why’d she have to go run off on her own? What’s a hummin’ bird gonna do all alone on her lonesome?” Mason mused with a shake of his head. Gage rolled his eye and peered around the corner. The forest opened up into a great plaza that the plant life hadn’t completely claimed yet, and there, by a massive set of glass doors, was Kincaid’s bag.

Jackpot.

Gage scanned the clearing, searching for movement, for anything that would mean danger. The bag wasn’t overturned or anything, just like she set it aside before exploring. She did that sometimes when she wanted ED-E’s laser free. She could still be around, still be lingering, perhaps just inside the building. Mason shoved past Gage with a grunt, entering the clearing with as much grace and tact as a bull that was trapped inside a glass box.

“Hey!” Gage snarled after the massive man, but Mason just flipped him off and walked up to Kincaid’s bag liked he owned it. He didn’t seem to care too much if one of those Gatorclaws were around, or if there were Red-Eyes or apes or anything else that could pose a threat. Mason was going to get the both of them killed, and quite frankly Gage was starting to get exhausted of Mason’s cocksure attitude.

“It's definitely hers,” Mason confirmed as he crouched beside the great green void. “Her rifle case is gone, but all her other shit is still here.”

“She probably expected to make it back to the camp before she was missed,” Gage pointed out as he scanned the edge of the woods. Mason grunted and dug around in her pack. That frustrated Gage, it wasn’t Mason’s place to rifle around in the Boss’ belongings. Mason tossed one of Kincaid’s lacy panties over his shoulder and Gage scrambled to gather it up. The last thing she needed was leaf litter in her bits because Mason had no sense in his thick skull. Gage deposited it back in the bag as Mason stood, and he fixed Mason with a glare. It was ineffective, but it made him feel better.

Gage picked up Kincaid’s bag as Mason made his way up to the great double doors. The Alpha pushed and shoved and rammed his shoulder into the glass. He came oh so close to taking his sledge to it.

“Can you not?” Gage groused, which caused Mason to pause.

“She couldn’t have gone in here, the doors don’t open.” Mason bitched as he pulled away. The massive man was grumbling and growling under his breath, pacing around as he glared at the doors with contempt etched into his face. Gage looked at him before turning to the doors. He wasn’t so sure they were locked. He looked back at Mason, his face devoid of emotion as he reached out, and pulled.

The door swung open, easily.

Mason deflated like a spent balloon. “I was gonna try that next,” he asserted as he followed Gage inside.

“Sure, and my auntie is a bloatfly,” Gage deadpanned as he looked around the bright space. The room was massive and had flyers and banners and all sorts of pre-war tomfoolery. There were desks strewn about, and it was clear that someone had only come through very recently. It wasn’t any cooler inside, though he expected that with a ceiling made entirely of glass. It wasn’t like there was any place for shade to gather.

He could see signs of Kincaid coming through here like a whirlwind. Drawers were left open on desks, shit was tipped over and rifled through, and hell, in places Gage could make out Kincaid’s footprints. This didn’t seem to matter too much to Mason, who just wandered around the hall like a lost fuckin’ child.

“Where the fuck is the boss, Gage?” Mason asked as he turned back to Porter. Gage shrugged and picked through some notes left on one of the desks. Mason let out an annoyed huff and knocked over a chair like a child. Gage ignored him, looking for anything Kincaid might have left for them.

“Found a panel over here,” Mason called out, and Gage perked up. “Looks like it got broke into by our lovely little hummin’ bird, if this message on the front is any indication.”

“That’s Overboss to you,” Gage growled as he got closer. Mason turned to him and scrunched his nose. He made a face as he watched Gage come up to the terminal and start pushing buttons.

“Ain’t you no good with-” Mason’s mouth shut as the files on the computer opened. Gage flicked through the entries one by one, scanning the contents. “Well shit,” Mason muttered, reading over Gage’s shoulder.

There were a couple of files, but only one was of any interest. These animal loving freaks, Gage held in a laugh at how he called the Pack something similar in his head, had taken a Nuka scientist hostage and brought them up to the roller coaster that was still under construction when the bombs fell. Gage almost felt bad for the poor bastards that might have been out in the open air when the bombs dropped because of some loyalty to a buncha apes that didn’t remember them and lizards that wanted to kill everything. Gage looked over at the alpha and let out a huff.

“We have it. She musta gone to the coaster to see if she could get the key to the door.” Gage left the console unlocked, just in case Mason wanted to nose around in it. Instead, Mason followed Gage around. Gage could tell he wanted to say something, to point something out or start some sorta shit. Porter braced himself for it.

“Ya’know you probably shouldn’t worry so much,” Mason said, and Gage could hear the amusement in his voice. It was mocking, and it pulled on every one of Gage’s very frayed nerves. “You don’t need to flinch just because I’m following after you.” Gage paused. Had he flinched? He didn’t think he’d flinched.

“I didn’t flinch,” Gage grumbled, though it might have come across as too defensive. Gage didn’t have time for these mind games. He waved his hand dismissively and sneered. “Just get whatever intel you wanted and let’s go.”

“Why would I need more intel? You got pretty much everything you could, right?” Mason said. “I’m sure there’s more down the elevator, but we need the key. So, the coaster.” he made a motion with his hand, like it was the most logical thing.

Gage didn’t want to argue further, but he still wasn’t sure exactly what Mason’s game was. Everyone double checked to make sure no one was fuckin’ ‘em over. Even Kincaid read the terminal behind him when he hacked into one.

Gage just headed towards the door and fought the paranoia that was welling up inside. Mason was so close he could hear the wall of a man breathe- among other things. He was glad when they got outside and there was a little more breathing room. They were safer in the trees, as much as Gage didn’t care for heights, but this would be good enough until they figured out where they were going. They paused though, in the middle of the central building’s plaza. He reached up and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. It was hotter than Satan’s taint, and it wasn’t helping his mood at all.

“Too bad we don’t have Cito,” Gage said, even though he was at least a little glad he only had to deal with one Grognak today. “Or the little bot. I’m not sure which way is the coaster. It ain’t on any of the official maps yet, since it wasn’t done.” For good measure, Gage pulled out his worn copy of Safari Adventure’s layout and showed Mason. The words Angry Anaconda just didn’t show up. Mason studied it for a moment like he hadn’t seen the map himself even though Gage was sure Mason had it memorized.

“My guess is here,” Mason said as he pointed to a spot on the map. It didn’t look like anything special to Gage. “They probably didn’t build it from scratch. They reused the tracks for some of these coasters and changed the name and colors around a little to call it something new.”

“How the fuck do you know that?” Gage asked. He studied the spot Mason pointed to and then looked around to see if he might be able to figure out where to go. North, sure, but he didn’t normally carry a compass on him, and he was not going to try to dig around in Caid’s void of a bag for hers. It was difficult to get his bearings for directions, but he’d manage eventually.

“Did a bunch of reading when you an’ Colter started making waves with talk of takin’ Nuka-World,” Mason said. “Coyote and Lady-Bird still weren’t bitin’ yet, but I knew where we’d end up if they were smart.”

Gage hadn’t heard Mason talk about the last alphas in a hot minute. It wasn’t as if the names were banned in the Zoo, but Mason seemed to like to act like Coyote and Lady-Bird hadn’t even existed. It was almost strange to hear him talk about it. It felt too much like Mason was trying to trust him with something that Gage didn’t understand yet.

“I didn’t know you could read,” Gage blurted out. Mason turned to look at him, Mason’s eyes squinting as he scanned over Gage like he was trying to figure out if Gage was sincere or not. He seemed to figure it as a joke, and he let out boisterous laughter. Just the noise got under Gage’s skin. It was the same way Mason had laughed him off when he visited the first time after Mason tarred and feathered the last alphas. Gage had been trying to make a show of good faith, that Colter would still honor the treaty if the Pack still wanted in. And Mason had laughed in his fucking face.

Gage went real quiet, he could feel it in his gut. He was one more prod from snapping, one more poke away from decking the alpha again. Mason was in his space, breathing down his neck, too damn close in this god awful oppressive heat. Too fuckin’ damn close. He could hear the man breathing, snorting, the way his lips hit each other. He could hear the rustle of fabric and wicker armor, how the straps of Mason’s chest piece groaned with each breath, even more so as the man laughed. The edges of Gage’s vision tinged black as his head started to spin a little. He usually only felt dizzy like this before a migraine, and that just made his temper flare even worse. The last thing he needed was for Mason to see him have a migraine in the middle of a fucking park siege.

“That was a good one,” Mason told him, playfully slapping Gage’s arm. Gage rounded on him and Mason took a surprising step back as Gage let out a loud snarl. Gage fixed him with a dark look, and both men went still.

It was starting to get into the hottest part of the day. The sun was bright and the air was hot. The bars of Gage’s armor were too hot to touch. He wasn’t even sure he was sweating any more, with how hot it was. He kept his eye locked on Mason. He wanted to take his armor off, to curl up in some dark hole and wait out the daylight. Light always made his migraines worse, and he needed to escape the oppressive heat that was pressing down on him like a goddamn heavy quilted blanket.

Mason was watching him, his face carefully expressionless. The dizziness got worse and it was getting hard for Gage to breathe under the scrutiny. He palmed at his good eye and turned away. He wanted to just turn and run. He could; he reasonably could. He figured he was faster then Mason, probably. Mason might have had longer legs but Gage could fit in places Mason couldn’t. Running would make his head hurt worse later, but he needed to get away.

So he turned and tried to bolt. Tried.

Mason got to him first. Mason got him by the back of his armor and Gage swore both internally and externally as he kicked out. He was wrenched back so fast his whole world seemed to spin, a dancing flurry of color and light. Gage growled and clawed and kicked and he was reasonably sure he caught Mason in the thigh because of how the Alpha started swearing. Metal boot caps, bitch.

Mason drug him out of the plaza and into the darkness of the woods. This was it. This is how he died. Not by blood worm or by angry AI, or even an angry gatorclaw- no, he was going to die because he pushed one of the bosses too far. He always figured it would have been Nisha, with her knife poised above his good eye. He didn’t think it would be Mason, barehanded and in the middle of the woods. At least he hadn’t thought so until recently.

It wasn’t going to stop Gage from fighting every step of the way as Mason drug him deeper and deeper into the woods. The shade was a relief, albeit in a small and short-lived way.

Mason pinned him to a tree and Gage was briefly grateful they were so far away from Mason’s rats. At least here Mason would have to do the job himself, instead of just tossing Gage to Queenie to watch the show. Mason’s hands were locked around the bars that crossed Gage’s chest, his knuckles white as Gage dangled a solid foot off the ground. It occurred to Gage, right then, that if he could get the armor unbuckled he might have been able to slip out and get away.

“How the fuck-” Mason growled as he inspected Gage’s armor. Gage wasn’t going to give him time to figure out how to kill him through the metal. Gage’s hands went right to the belts, and he had them unbuckled in a flash. “What the fuck-” he heard Mason as he dropped to the ground, hitting the leaf litter with a crunch. His head spun and he dropped to his knees, taking just a split second too long to get his bearings. As he got his feet under him he got roughly two feet before Mason was on him again. They both crashed into the leaf litter, and Gage’s world became a swirl of color and light again.

“Oh, fuck you,” he grit out as he shoved his palm into Mason’s face in what felt like a futile attempt to push Mason away. He tried to get his legs between them, if he could push off of Mason’s gut he could both wind the larger man and give himself a head start. Mason wasn’t having it though and just wrestled Porter to the ground, twisting and grunting as the two men struggled against each other. Mason, however, got the upper hand when he raised his hand, Gage couldn’t be sure why, and for the briefest moment Gage was sure there, clenched in a fist he wasn’t sure Mason was making, was a thick, heavy wrench. Gage flinched in a way he couldn’t control and it gave Mason the chance he needed to pin him down more fully. He felt Mason’s knee settle into his back, and his shoulders ached as the alpha gripped both of his wrists in a single hand. Mason’s other free hand settled on the back of Gage’s head, pushing him into the muddy ground. Gage got a mouthful of mud and a stone digging right into his empty eye socket under his patch.

For a moment all was still, the air, the animals, Mason.

Gage coughed and spat out mud, but Mason just shoved him back down into the dirt. It was hard to breathe with the Alpha’s knee in the center of his back, and his arms were starting to burn from being held in such an awkward position.

“Jesus Christ! What the fuck was that?” Mason asked, sounding more confused than angry. “Now, if you promise not to run off like a fucking lunatic I’ll let you up- but you can’t just fuckin’ run off like all the sudden you’re hearin’ the song of your people!”

What the ever living fuck was Mason talking about?

“I’m gonna roll you over, but don’t even THINK about running,” Mason growled and Gage felt the Alpha’s grip tighten on the back of his skull. “Last thing I need is you drownin’ in the fucking mud. How the fuck would I explain that to Caid?” He started to roll Gage over slowly, and Gage kept himself limp. “Oh, yeah, just accidentally killed your second, no big. He just drowned in mud, boss- coulda’ happened to anybody.” Mason bitched loudly, “Decided to run off like a fuckin’ loon! What else was I supposed to do? Let him get eaten by those little croco-shits. That ain’t even countin’ the earful I’ll get from Sierra, then Bridgeman.” Mason settled on Gage’s gut, using his body weight to keep Gage pinned. He kept Gage’s wrists above his head with one hand, using the other to keep steady.

Gage glared up at the man, who was having a whole ass conversation with himself. It was insulting, almost as bad as that obnoxious laughter. Gage decided, if Mason wasn’t going to kill him, then he could afford to be a little petulant. He still had a mouthful of mud afterall, and Mason was distracted.

Mason’s little conversation came to a screeching halt when mud splattered across his face. He looked down at Gage and for a moment, Gage could just see the gears turning in Mason’s brain.

“Did you just spit on me?” Mason asked with narrowed eyes. He wiped his face off and shook the dirt off his hand. “Listen here, you fuckin’ dumbass. Did you fucking eat today? Have you drank any fuckin’ water?” The answer was no, but Gage wasn’t about to admit that.

He just kept quiet and kept trying to kill Mason with a look alone. “No? Probably not, considerin’ it’s you,” Mason grumbled as he glanced around. He looked back down at Gage. it was hard to breathe with the Alpha perched right on his diaphragm, and God did his shoulders feel like one wrong move was going to wrench them out of the socket. “You got anything to say for yourself?”

“Fuck you,” Gage grit out, and Mason rolled his eyes.

“Are you going to run?” Mason asked.

“Probably,” Gage admitted.

“Well fucking don’t.” Mason spat out, shaking his head. “I figured a while back you were probably gettin’ heatstroke,” Mason told him. “You need water and shade, but I ain’t getting up unless I know you won’t run off and die from the heat.”

Gage stopped and thought about it for a second. He hadn’t ever had heatstroke, but normally raiders didn’t worry about shit like that. But it made sense, Gage s’posed. “How’d you figure that?” Gage asked with a narrowed eye.

Mason let out a huff and shook his head. “You stopped fuckin’ wiping away your sweat like what? Forty minutes ago? Give or take? Big fuckin’ indicator there, Porter.”

“You do not get to use my first fuckin’ name like you fuckin’ know me!” Gage snarled, struggling against Mason. Mason didn’t know shit for shit, and now he was acting all buddy buddy all because he wanted to get in closer with the Overboss. Gage saw through it of course, it’s part of what annoyed him so badly. He tried to kick and squirm but the Alpha was perched solidly on his gut and really all he managed was to wiggle in the mud and swear so much that he ran out of breath.

“You done?” Mason asked with a poke to Gage’s cheek.

“Fuck you,” Gage snapped before trying to bite Mason’s finger. Mason just laughed and sat back, which caused Gage to deflate with a quiet ‘oof’.

Mason hummed and that smile spread across his face. “Hummin’ Bird would probably skin me alive if you went and died while runnin’ after her like a lovesick puppy.” Mason tapped his nose and Porter just saw red. He was going to kill Mason. He wasn’t sure how, or when. But he was going to kill him. He’d do it with his pistol probably, right under the chin if he could. Or maybe his boot knife, take a page out of Nisha’s book and gut him. He hadn’t decided just yet.

“I ain’t no fuckin’ lovesick puppy!” Gage snarled, renewing his attempts at escape. It failed, again, as was expected. Mason was a large man, and had his hands pinned above his head. Didn’t stop Gage from spitting though, and he had a tobacco habit that had initially started with chew.

“Wow! You have fantastic aim!” Mason said as he wiped his face off again. “I got it! You ever join the Pack we're all gonna call you llama,” Gage was going to kill Mason. “Shit I’d pegged you for a ferret but this?” Gage was really going to kill Mason. “Its a llama, definitely a-” the alpha choked and that shit eating smile slid off his face like Brahmin shit off the side of a barn. While the alpha had been going on and on, Gage had gathered everything he had. Everything he could muster. And then, at the most opportune moment, when Mason’s mouth was open, Gage let it fly.

And the Pack Alpha got a mouth full of spit.

And then he was pretty sure Mason was going to vomit. And it was going to end up on him. God shits in his dinner again. Mason made a noise like a cat heaving out a hairball, a disgusting retching noise that started deep in the back of the throat.

Luckily for Gage, Mason spit it out to the side, instead back in his face. So small favors, Gage s’posed. Mason dug around in his back and pulled out a can of water, swishing the water around to cleanse his mouth before spitting the water a short distance. When he’d recovered from his harrowing ordeal, if his face was any indication, he looked down at Porter. The two shared a moment of silence.

It went for one second, and then two.

And then Mason poured water on his face.

“Oh, fuck you!” Gage snarled as he turned his face to the side. Mason wiggled the can slightly to get the last of the water out before tossing his trash over his shoulder. Gage was not going to admit the water felt good, he wasn’t going to admit that he needed a drink of water, and he sure as fuck wasn’t going to ask Mason nicely to let him sit up and go sit in the dark for a while while his throbbing headache ran its course.

Mason cracked another can and poured a bit more on Gage’s head and shoulders before setting the can to the side. “You wanna drink?” Mason asked, his voice not tinged with any anger or amusement or a billion other things that could have set Porter off.

“Fuck you,” Gage growled. Mason let out a sigh, and Gage looked up at him. He looked tired now. Fun and games were over apparently. Gage’s opinion was still solidly the same one he’d been repeating for the last half an hour, as far as Mason was concerned, he could go get fucked. That was all he was going to get out of Gage, it was all he deserved. They weren’t friends. They were coworkers, and Gage hated Mason’s guts.

“Gage, I’ma let your hands go. You’re gonna punch me, and I’m expecting it.” Mason told him, and Gage frowned. “But afterwards, you need some water. If you die out here, it’s gonna kill Kincaid.” Mason let go of his hands and Porter crossed his arms over his chest. That punch was never going to come. With Mason expecting it, it just wouldn’t be that satisfying. After a solid ten seconds of waiting Mason let out a grumble. “Fine. Okay. Be that way, asshole,” Mason groused, reaching for the water. “You are such a turd. You wanna drink?”

“Can’t drink very well layin’ down,” Gage pointed out, and Mason just ran a hand down his face.

“I can’t do right by you,” Mason huffed as he scooted back slightly so that Porter could get up on his elbows. “Fuckin’ drink. Before you fuckin’ die.” Mason demanded, and honestly? Gage wanted to refuse, just for the sake of being difficult. He wanted to say no and clamp his mouth shut and piss Mason off so bad that the Alpha lost his temper. He wanted to.

But he was also god awful thirsty.

He leaned on his good arm and took the can. Mason looked relieved as Gage drank greedily. He sat in silence as Gage finished off the can, and didn’t even flinch when it bounced off his forehead. He just sat there and took it and honestly? It was starting to freak Gage out a little bit. He just offered Gage another can and let out a huff that sounded like it belonged to an old farm dog who had spent the day sleeping in a sunbeam.

“You good not mentioning any of this to the boss?” Mason asked as Porter downed another can.

“Only if you don’t tell Mackenzie or that little Pack Animal that I went off and cooked my head.” Gage countered, and Mason nodded and held his hand out to shake.

This was fine. Gage could deal with a cease fire.

He heard Mason let out another heavy huff as he was knocking the mud off his clothes. He turned to look at the Alpha and Mason just shook his head.

“You know you really are a fuckin’ asshole, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOOOOOON
> 
> also Mason is a fucking asshole. I love him. Also, Lilly had to point out that Mason and Porter were pretty homoerotic in this chapter and my asexual ass did not realize it while I was writing, so uh- yeah. I'd say be warned, but this is at the end of the chapter and you probably already read it lmfao


	33. Oh My Dear Lord

Kincaid had found Mason and Gage sitting in a nook under a massive tree, swapping a can of water back and forth. She’d praised them for how amicable they were being. The two men looked at each other, and Gage could see the fear in Mason’s eyes. 

Gage just laughed it off and blamed it on the heat and that seemed to be enough for Kincaid. She pranced along with Cito and ED-E, dragging the lot of them back up to the main camp. All Gage wanted to do was go back to his tent and sleep, to just rest for a while. But it was still in the afternoon, and Kincaid wanted to go hunting.

And God smite him where he stood if he was going to let her go off alone. Or with just Mason. He was completely unreliable, and purposefully agitated a person who was suffering from heatstroke. Unreliable. 

He got a sandwich from the mess hall before following Kincaid to the Pack’s armory. He sat down and just chewed real slow while Kincaid retold tales of a nest of six or seven of those big gatorclaw bastards, all huddled around where the key to the cloning facility was. The Pack Animals were enraptured with her and Cito’s retelling, hanging on every word. ED-E would beep along and play sound clips for emphasis, and Gage wondered, if only for a moment, if Kincaid would have done well in theatre. 

Mason plopped down beside him and Gage scooted to the side slightly to give the man more room. Mason had a plate of jerky and a sandwich of his own, which he inhaled in three bites. He then started on the jerky before offering Gage a piece. 

Gage looked at it, then up at the alpha. Mason nudged him with the plate again and Gage decided it would be safer to take it than to reject it and piss the rest of the gang off. He took a piece, hoping to hell and high heaven it wasn’t people. He’d heard the rumors that went around about the Pack, that they ate their slaves they no longer had any use for. He’d pegged the Disciples for cannibalism right out the gate, but the Pack was ambiguous enough he had no idea what to expect. 

“Uh, what kinda meat is this?” Gage asked quietly, as to not interrupt Kincaid.

“People,” Mason said, without skipping a beat. Gage recoiled and Mason let out a little laugh, shaking his head. “Nah, I’m fuckin’ with you. It’s brahmin meat.” Oh, thank god. Gage let out a sigh of relief and took a bite. Definitely beef. Gage relaxed and went back to watching Kincaid, who was helping Cito educate the Pack Animals on the most effective ways to kill the gator claws. 

“There soft spot under head,” Cito explained, pointing at his neck. 

“Any high caliber weapon will tear them a new asshole if you shoot there,” Kincaid added, lifting her rifle. “I suggest .308 and above, but in a pinch, anything will work.”

“Sharp things bounce off, blunt things hurt deep,” Cito told them, raising his baseball bat.

Mason leaned closer to Porter, and Gage narrowed his eye at the boss. “I wanna see this kid with a sledge.” That was a good point. If Grognak could kill a gatorclaw with a board, the damage he could do with a sledge would be insane. Porter nodded and Mason offered him another piece of jerky. Gage took it and leaned back slightly, relaxing. This worked for him; he liked having Mason undeniably on his side. The man was a fucker, but at least he was a reasonable fucker. Cito had a picture and was pointing out the spots to hit the monsters. Kincaid was nodding along and clarifying as needed. 

This felt nice and right. It was preparation one did not usually see out of Kincaid. She had a plan, and even a set time so it wasn’t like she was just running off again.

With their presentation complete, everyone except Mason and Gage exploded into a flurry of activity. In a rush of cleaning and prepping rifles, gathering ammo, and collecting rations, the whole gang swirled around the two men like a goddamn tornado. 

“Why ain’t he helpin’, boss?” one of the Pack Animals asked, jutting their chin at Gage. He just blinked at them and chewed on his jerky, too exhausted to argue. 

Mason wiped his greasy hands on his pants and stood up with a tilt of his head. “Because he’s been fuckin’ ill for the last month, and he’s done more to take these parks then most everyone else combined, save the boss, of course.” 

Gage stared at the back of Mason’s head, completely perplexed. 

“So, I suggest shuttin’ up, and goin’ back to your duties - which include minding your own business,” the Alpha finished, and the threat hung heavy in the air. The Animal scuttled off and Gage went back to eating. 

Mason sat back down. They sat like that in silence until Kincaid came over, that bright smile on her face and energy radiating off her like heat from the sun. “You boys ready to go hunting?”

Mason’s face pulled into a sharp smile and he leaned forward. “Always, Hummin’ Bird. Always.” 

Gage stared at him, raising an eyebrow. He looked back to Kincaid and let out a huff. “If we gotta go tonight, sure.”

“Gage if you wanna st-”

“I ain’t stayin’, you know it, I know it-” Gage growled, and Kincaid threw her hands up in surrender with a laugh. 

“It’s ok, I understand. How good are you with a long range rifle?” she asked, hands on her hips. Gage shrugged, sitting up and leaning his elbows on his knees. “Because I’m gonna give you Snipey Pete and go in with Zappy Tom.” 

“Works for me,” Gage told her. She beamed at him, all bright smiles and for a moment that was all that mattered. He didn’t care that he ached, or that exhaustion was pressing behind his eyes. For a moment, he loved her. He’d never admit it, not out loud, not to anyone. But god, listening to her chatter about her stupid guns and their stupid names was heaven.

He had seen hell, he had been ready to face hell, for her. Only for her. 

“Gage?” Her voice brought him back to reality, and he snapped to attention. “Lost you for a moment, you okay?” Kincaid was kneeling down in front of him oh so gentle like. She had a little smile pulling at her lips, and she’d taken his hand in hers. He felt his face heat up and he nodded a little too quick. She brushed her thumbs across his hand and watched him for a moment, scanning his face. He was sure she was trying to see if he needed to sit out, but he was determined to stay, to go on his hunt and not leave her alone. “Ok, then let’s get ready. We got gators to hunt.”

No matter how tired he really was. 

“Sounds like it's time to put bullets in faces.” Gage chucked, and that made Kincaid smile and god his chest felt so warm. It felt so full. He thought briefly he should have Mackenzie check that out, but that would require informing the doctor of the feelings he was having. He decided not to, on that ground alone. 

They’d gotten to their feet, and Kincaid was giving him a rundown on how Pete worked, on the differences between Pete and other bolt action rifles. She was also giving him the belts of ammo she carried. He was surprised she carried this on the regular because, shit son. The gun was heavy, the ammo was heavier, and the secondary beam emitter made the whole thing a little unwieldy.

Didn’t matter too much. The plan was to go from the trees and the coaster. Take out as many as they could from range before the big bastards got close. Gage liked that, it was a solid plan with a low chance of being maimed. He preferred plans like this. It didn’t take long for the hunting party to assemble, and within the hour they were out. The rifle was heavy across his back, but he felt secure with it. God, he would kill for a gun like this, and Kincaid did not just let anyone touch her things. It was a privilege, a pledge of trust.

They crept through the growth before stopping just short of the edge of the reserve. Just beyond was the mangled coasters and the massive anaconda, or the metal snake as Cito put it. Kincaid crouched down and everyone gathered around her, gazing at a map she scratched into the bark. “The key is here, so far as I can tell,” Kincaid told them, tapping on a rough rectangle. “It’s an old trailer, still standing by the skin of its teeth. The ‘claws have set up all around it, and are nesting,” Kincaid told them, her eyes half closed as she scratched Xs into the bark. “I frankly don’t care if they’re breeding, or if we’re killing mothers and children. I don’t care about honor, or the sacred pact of the hunt. I want my park,” Kincaid looked up, her eyes were dark, dangerous. It set Gage’s heart a pitter-patter. “And I want it now.” 

The plan was simple enough, they’d get close enough in the trees to rain hell down on their heads with the heavy rifles, take out as many as they could manage before the beasts scattered. From there, Pack Animals and Cito would chase on foot to finish the job. With any luck, it would be simple, easy. Nothing was ever easy for them, but as far as Kincaid’s plans went, this one felt solid. Solid enough that Gage was impressed. 

And if the brutes could climb? The Pack would drop and the second half would begin early. Gage didn’t want it to come to that, but at least they knew what to do. 

They had managed to time it so that most of the gatorclaws were asleep, draped about and soaking up the last rays of sunlight as they filtered through the tree cover. It was perfect and gave them plenty of time to line up their first volley. Gage flicked out the bi-pod on Pete, breathing slow. Hehad a decent aim, but was more familiar with his handmade rifle. He took his time lining up his shot, making sure everything was just so. The call to fire hadn’t been shouted yet, so he took a moment to breathe, a moment to compose himself. 

Porter reminded himself; throat, armpits, under the ribs. 

Easy enough. 

One, Mason held his hand high, and Gage sucked in a breath.  
Two, Gage lined up his shot and let himself breathe out slow and steady.  
Three, Mason’s hand dropped and Gage pulled the trigger, felt the impact against his shoulder. 

Pop goes the gator head.

Gage let out a laugh, the sort of manic laugh that bubbles up from your guts and crawls its way out of your throat. Pete was powerful, it made Gage feel powerful. No wonder Kincaid always rushed around everywhere, swinging around this rifle and taking pot shots at everything. Gage slid another bullet in the chamber as chaos bloomed below them. The claws had no idea what had hit them and were scrambling to figure out why they were dropping like flies. 

Gage took another breath and lined up another shot. He waited, one moment, and then two, before losing another round. Another Gator’s head became a pink mist, another corpse fell to the leaf litter below. He adjusted the bi-pod and went to line up a third shot before looking over to Kincaid. She was raining down a hellfire of solid metal pucks, taking out any that thought they might get too close to the war party. With the sunset coming through the leaves she looked like an avenging angel. Her hair was alight, a pink halo around her as her tongue traced her lip and she absorbed the shock of her gauss rifle. She moved slightly, pulling shot after shot like a machine. He wasn’t sure how she lined them up so quickly with such a large gun, but god did he never want to be on the wrong end of it. 

He turned back to his gun, popping two more gators before the brutes got the idea to jump into the trees. That was bad, that was very very bad, and increased the chance of maiming to unacceptable heights. He aimed down the barrel and shot one that was heading towards the tree cover. It was like trying to stop a tsunami with a bucket, but he tried right? The gatorclaws started climbing and Gage started to put away Kincaid’s rifle. It was useless to him in close quarters, and he was a lot more familiar with his hand-made rifle. He made sure the clip was loaded and put his back to the trunk of the tree, ready.

Waiting. 

Up crept first a clawed hand, each finger coming down against the wood of the massive branch. Then next a well-muscled shoulder, covered in heavy scales. Gage lined up his gun and narrowed his eye. Raising above the leaf line like a goddamn sea monster, came its head. First thing Gage saw were those baleful eyes, next, the distorted snout. The moment its neck came into view he loosed a volley of bullets right into its gullet. 

It roared one final roar before falling back, after a moment he heard it hit the ground with a heavy thud. The Pack animals were scrambling around him, fighting off gators of their own. The raiders were dropping from the trees by rope. If they didn’t have the advantage of height they sure weren’t going to take the chance of falling. That was the backup, Gage knew it, but just the thought of taking that plunge terrified him. He moved carefully through the chaos, trying to find Kincaid. He saw her, but not before she gave Mason a little salute before just stepping off the branch.

She just...

Stepped off...

Gage stared in horror for a moment before he remembered she had metal bones. She could do that, she could. He didn’t like it, but it wasn’t like he could stop her. What would he say? ‘Oh boss don’t do that you give me a fucking arythmia every single god damn time’ or perhaps ‘hey boss, you’re gonna put me into an early grave you keep doing that’? He wasn’t sure, but it made his stomach sick. He heard her hit the ground and he scrambled to the edge of the branch. She was no worse for wear and was shooting claws as they charged towards the trees. Okay. she was okay. That was what was important. She was ok, and Mason was dropping down via rope to help her. 

Gage turned and his heart stopped as a claw loomed over him. He could have sworn a smile pulled across its scaly lips as drool dripped off its massive fangs. Could’ve been it just trying to pull what lips it had back for a snarl, but honestly, Gage didn’t have the time to think on it, he barely had a moment to register it. It lunged for him and he dove off the branch, taking a leap of faith.

He caught himself on a lower branch, letting out a ‘oof’ before pulling himself up into the limb properly. It wasn’t as thick, but it would do. He looked up as the Gatorclaw crashed down on top of him, breaking the limb and sending them both plummeting to the ground through more branches. Each one hurt as much as the last, and Gage just tried to curl up and ignore the way his stomach shot up into his throat.

He was so fucking tired of falling. 

He landed hard on Kincaid’s rifle case, his entire side blooming in pain as he shoved himself up. The claw was rolling over, its massive tail lashing back and forth as it righted itself. Luckily the spikes that lined its back were dug in deep, and the thing was having a hard time freeing them. Gage grabbed his rifle and backed up, losing a volley into its soft belly before it could right itself. 

He felt the bruise crawl up his side as he fired into the prone claw. It was getting hard to breathe, hard to maneuver. He needed to get to higher ground, somewhere where he could take potshots and keep out of the way. Right now he was not much more than dead weight. He glanced around the battlefield and his guts churned at the chaos. He couldn’t tell who was winning, who was losing, nor could he tell what the losses were stacking up to. And oh how they were stacking up. The body of a pack hunter soared through the air, hitting the tree next to Gage and crumbling. He wasn’t sure if the man was dead, but he didn’t have much time to ask as a gatorclaw came charging out of the brush after its prey. Gage dropped down, curling up in a ball and narrowly escaping being trampled by the massive creature. 

The Gatorclaw that had fallen out of the tree had gone limp, its insides oozing out of the torn apart gut as it struggled to breathe. Gage moved to it, keeping low. It seemed like Pack Animals were winning, at least against the initial assault. For every claw they felled, two more seemed to take its place. This proved true for Gage as well, as two gatorclaws caught wind of him and came to investigate their fallen companion. Gage kept low, moving slowly as to keep as silent as possible. The creatures sniffed the unfortunate claw on its back, and made this low gutteral chuffing. It was loud, so loud it made Gage’s bones ache. He kept low in the brush, trying to keep as silent even has his shaking breaths became more and more pained. He watched in horror as they started to rip into their fallen companion. 

They ate the poor thing alive and for a moment, Gage almost felt bad. Almost. Instead he decided to move while the things were distracted with an easy meal. This was not a fight he was going to win, he knew it in his bones. He moved quietly towards the thick of the battle. If he could find Kincaid, he could- he wasn’t really sure what he was going to do, but he would feel safer, and that was something right? Safety in numbers. 

They were in the middle of a massive circle of decrepit trailers and construction equipment. All of it was overgrown, and if he hadn’t known ahead of time, he wouldn’t have been able to place the pre war buildings. He couldn’t see Kincaid anywhere, no pink hair, no glow of her gauss in the deepening darkness. It made his blood run cold like ice, and a cold hard lump of iron grew in his stomach. He glanced around, spotting an overgrown set of scaffolding that would both offer him cover and a decent vantage point. 

He scrambled up the shoddy ramp, climbing quickly. It was propped against what he assumed was supposed to be a new support for the coaster in progress. As it was, he was going to use it as a sniper nest. If he could spot Kincaid, they could regroup, tackle these wild animals, they could survive. 

But he did not see her.

He saw Pack Animals, with brightly colored hair and paint that glowed in the darkness. He saw Gatorclaws with markings that glowed a soft blue. He saw Cito, who had Mason’s sledge and in the brief moment that Gage was paying attention to him, knocked a Gatorclaw’s head clean off. Gage spotted Mason, holding a massive machine gun that looked more apt to be mounted on a vertibird then held by a man, but that was his business, and he was mowing down claws. 

But he did not see Kincaid. 

He did not see the glow of her gauss rifle, he did not see her hair, he did not hear her laugh or her war cry or any other manner of things that she did during battles. His brain started to cook up all sorts of scenarios, how she could be bleeding out in the dirt, or hanging from a tree, or ripped in half. But these were not helpful, not in the slightest. Gage worked her rifle back together as he shoved each thought down, one by one as they cropped up. She could have landed badly when she stepped off the tree- no, he saw her land just fine. She could have been snapped up by the gators and taken off to their main nests to be eaten- no, that was something more akin to bloodworms, they were destroying their nests right at this moment. She could have been hit and knocked into a tree, breaking her back and leaving her dying against aged bark- not likely, she had metal bones. Would the metal bones save her from gatorclaw bites? Gage wasn’t sure, but by all means if one did get its mouth on her it would tear and rip apart the flesh. Metal bones were all well and good, but she was far from invincible. The thought wormed its way into his head to stay, and every time he blinked he saw it behind his eyelid. He squashed down his fear, trying to bottle it up. He would have time to panic and worry later, right now there were gators to kill. He was of no use to anyone dead, and he was not about to share the fate of that unfortunate gator at the hands of its companions. 

He flipped out the bi-pod and slipped a bullet into the chamber. Like this, he felt safe, secure. He sucked in a painful breath and lined up the shot. 

Mason found a claw that was getting too close for comfort suddenly headless. And Gage could see the confusion on his face. Gage chuckled, despite the pain blossoming in his side. He loaded another bullet, checking on Cito. Grognak did not need help as he was crushing a claw’s skull in his bare hands, so Gage moved onto Pack Animals. He systematically moved from claw to claw, dropping them in one or two shots. Still no Kincaid, though, and he could feel the bad thoughts crawling up his spine, skittering under his skin. 

He felt the scaffolding shake under him, throwing off his shot. He looked down and frowned as a gator started to investigate his rifle fire. He lined up a bullet, and as soon as the thing looked up Gage pulled the trigger. It wasn’t the most graceful shot, but the thing’s head still burst from the bullet, and that was what counted. It was bloody, but efficient work. 

By the time the chaos settled and the battlefield had gone quiet Gage ached, and there was a horrible ringing in his ears from Pete. He shoved himself up and braced himself on the railing of the scaffolding. Birds were starting to pick at the cooling remains even as Pack Animals stacked bodies up. Apes were shouting in the trees, and he could see other animals on the edge of the clearing. The Pack were working on taking what they could from the claws, but Gage was not sure they could salvage much from the beasts. 

He made his way down the rickety ramp slowly, hand against his bruised side. He was starting to see kincaid’s point about the armor. Having the metal jam into his side after every branch hit did him no favors, and landing hard on the metal of her rifle case just exasperated matters. 

“Gage!” Porter looked up and saw Mason bounding over to him, covered in gore and holding a knife. Briefly, Gage’s brain screamed for him to run. But Mason wasn’t a threat, that was a skinning knife, something to cut hides. The massive man was not about to shank him. Still, it was an effort to try and stay still and not flinch as the beast of a man got closer.

“You’re a fuckin’ crackshot! Why don’t you use rifles like that more often?” Mason asked, a big smile across his painted face. Gage just blinked, watching the Alpha. “I looked behind me and then all the sudden ‘blamo’ out goes the claw breathing down my neck like his head became confetti!” The words weren’t sinking into Porter’s brain, it was like he was hearing Mason through water. “Thing just dropped like a sack of rocks from a tree top! I’m gonna have to start respectin’ you an’ shit, Porter!” Mason said with a laugh. All Gage could think about was her, how he couldn’t find her, how she still hadn’t cropped up despite the silence that now enveloped the little construction site. Mason’s face contorted slightly, confusion, probably. Gage couldn’t tell. “Gage?” he asked, and Gage sucked in a breath.

“Where is Kincaid?” Gage asked, surprised at the rasp of his voice. It was hard to breathe, much less to speak. Mason’s hand went to his shoulder and Gage flinched. He regretted it almost instantly because Mason was on him in a heartbeat, with his meaty hands turning Gage’s head left and right. He was inspecting for damage, Gage knew this, it still caused panic to well up in Gage’s guts. 

“You got a concussion? How many of me you seeing?” Mason asked as he waved a fat finger in front of Gage’s eye. Gage growled and tried to pull away but Mason just held him still, a hand on the back of his neck like a fucking kitten. “Come on, we gotta get to triage,”

“I ain’t fuckin’ hurt!” That was a lie, and Gage knew it. “I wanna know where Kincaid is! Where the fuck is the boss?” Gage snarled and pulled away from Mason, batting away the well meaning Alpha’s hands. Mason stared at Gage for a moment and narrowed his eyes. “Don’t give me that look,” Gage hissed as he took a step away from Mason. He could feel Mason’s eyes on him, he could feel the scrutiny and he hated it. “I need to give the boss back her rifle, and we need to regroup- find the key, make a plan!” Gage tried to explain, but Mason wasn’t listening. He was calling over Pack Animals, he was trying to find someone to take a look at Gage. 

Gage turned and walked away from the Alpha. He was going to regret it, sure, but he needed to find Kincaid right now. He needed to find her so that the bad thoughts would stop, so the images of her dead in the leaf litter would stop assaulting him. They were like ghosts, every time he blinked all he could see was her bloodied broken corpse. Bleeding and broken and dying in the leaf litter and he needed to find her and he needed to find her now. He could hear Mason, distantly, but that wasn’t important, Kincaid was important. Kincaid was important and he needed to give her her gun, and he needed to know she was ok. Mason grabbed him again and Gage turned on his heel, trying to smack the Alpha away. 

“Gage?” Her voice was like a gentle stream, so soft and kind over the air. It was calming, made his heart stop pounding against his ribs and made his lungs relax. For a moment, he could breathe again. He turned and she was there, unbloodied, unhurt. She had some papers in hand, and a little keycard hanging from a lanyard. That wasn’t as important as her though, and how her armor was in tact, how her gun hung from its strap and rested so delicately against her hip.

She had what she came for, which was important, Gage s’posed. The thoughts of her dead against a tree, or in the leaf litter, or torn apart by gators started to melt away into nothing more than unpleasant pinpricks in the back of his brain. Little bouts of paranoia that he could brush aside. She was here, in front of him, warm and kind and bright. She wasn’t growing cold in the leaf litter, bleeding out and alone. She wasn’t wondering why she was growing so cold, nor wishing for someone to find her. She was safe, alive, and standing right there in front of him. 

She was his light, his warmth. She was alive and well and breathing. All of the bad thoughts were melting away as he forced his way over to her, shoving aside well meaning Pack Animals and stepping over the bodies of the dead. They weren’t her though, she was alive, she was ok. She was what mattered in that moment. She was his best friend, she was the reason he was alive many times over. He didn’t want the dream if she wasn’t there to share it with him. He wanted to give her the world and everything in it. So far as Gage was concerned she deserved it. She deserved anything and everything she wanted, and he was there to make that happen. 

Gage stumbled and Kincaid caught him as he pitched forward. He wrapped his arms around her tight as he got his boots back under him. She let out a surprised squeak as his grip tightened and he held on like she’d melt away if he ever let go. He clung to her for dear life and tucked his head into her shoulder. This was bad, it was soft and weak and the sort of thing that got raiders shot. It was the sort of thing that got people used, abused, and tossed aside. Gage couldn’t help it though, he needed to touch her, to know she was there. He needed it like a starving man needed food. She was here, and he had been so afraid.

Fuck professional distances. He had been so terrified that he lost her that it didn’t matter any more, nothing mattered but the fact she was breathing now, that he could hear her heart pounding, the feeling of her arms around his chest as she returned his affection. They were friends now, and he cared. He cared and he couldn’t stop that. Nothing could stop that. He had been so afraid of losing her, of being alone.

He never wanted to be alone again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter, one more until the aftermath of the service tunnel. One more chapter until they KISS (in the smut, but still, first kiss babes)


	34. 99 Problems

He had made such a horrible mistake. He’d been completely aware he was making it too, as he’d stumbled past Mason, past Pack medics, past well-meaning Animals. He’d shown his belly to the entire hunting party the moment he wrapped Kincaid in that hug. And he was waiting for the moment that they would go for the throat. He could feel the shiv in his kidney already and he could feel his lifeblood start to pour out.

Of course, this was all metaphorical. 

He was sitting in the triage center, Kincaid holding his hand as the green haired little Pack Animal worked on the variety of cuts and scrapes and bruises that were peppered across his flesh. Sierra, he tried to force himself to remember. Kincaid insisted he learn her name, so he was going to try. She was bitching at him, but he’d tuned her out as he stared ahead and imagined every scenario he could die in after his little stunt. 

“Porter?” Kincaid’s voice, soft, to his left. At least the ringing in his ears had died down. He didn’t want to be half blind and deaf. He turned to her and she wiped his face with a rag. He pulled away and she just grabbed his chin, scrubbing under his good eye. “You should be listening. Get your head out of your ass,” Kincaid ordered, but her voice remained low, soft and gentle and all the things Gage was so fond of but so afraid of. 

Gage sucked in a breath and tried to pull away from Kincaid’s rag again. “Sorry boss,” he rasped with a shake of his head. Kincaid let his chin go and he looked at the Pack Runt. An order was an order, after all, no matter how soft-spoken. 

“Should I start from the top or should I fuckin’ bother?” the Pack girl asked, obviously annoyed. Gage winced and she let out a huff and shook her head. “You bruised your ribs with whatever stunt you pulled,” she said slowly as if speaking to a particularly slow toddler. Gage deserved that, he s’posed. It wasn’t like he’d ever really given her the time of day, despite her apparent best efforts to help Mackenzie keep him alive. 

“And from the scrapes, it looks like you fell out of a fuckin’ tree,” she continued as she went back to dabbing a cut with an alcohol swab. 

“I uh, I did,” Gage offered, real low and quiet. She paused and just stared at him, her brows all scrunched together. “One of the gators dove at me, I had to think fast and didn’t have time for rope,” Gage started, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. Kincaid was watching him too, unblinking, her face expressionless. That was worse, so much worse. “I landed on another branch and then, uh.” He could feel his face getting hot, and his guts were coiling up and he could feel the modest dinner that Kincaid had got him threatening to come back up. “Turns out the gatorclaws can jump and we both went down.”

“Jesus Christ.” Sierra pinched the bridge of her nose and Gage heard Kincaid snort. At least she was amused. He had been half afraid she was going to be pissed. He felt her rub his back and he leaned into it. At least in the triage tent, they were alone, mostly. They were sectioned off from where the other Pack medics were working on the wounded Animals. Most of the raiders wanted out of here as soon as possible- there was a party going on down on the lower floor and roasted Gator was on the menu.

Gage didn’t care though. He was going to be lucky if he could ever show his face again. The Pack Animals had seen it, clear as day. He’d gone soft, for the boss no less. If they didn’t kill him for it, they’d pity him. And the pity was almost worse than death. She was a lesbian after all, and if they figured he was completely infatuated with her, then what else was there?

He was a sorry bastard indeed. 

“Ok, so all things considered then you’re in pretty good shape then,” Sierra relented as she shoved a cold rag into his hands. He pressed it to the bouquet of purple and blue that engulfed his right side with a hiss. It stung to touch, but it wasn’t the worst, at least nothing was broken. Sierra talked about keeping out of battle and taking it easy, all shit Gage was not about to do. He could tell she knew it was a waste of breath, but Kincaid was nodding along like it was sage wisdom and that must have made it worth saying. 

“I’ll leave you to it then, maybe you can get it through his thick skull,” Sierra said and Gage snapped to attention. He hadn’t even realized he’d tuned her out again. He was so god awful exhausted that it wasn’t even intentional at this point. He palmed at his good eye and Kincaid kept rubbing his back. 

It was silent for a moment, most of the Pack had filtered out of triage, all that was left were Animals too injured to get up and party. They’d be sent back to Nuka-Town in the morning, and Gage was afraid he’d be among them. Kincaid hummed and he looked over to her, blinking slowly.

“We should have waited. I should have let you rest.” Kincaid sighed and Gage tilted his head. “You’re so exhausted. I keep pushing you too far.” She leaned against his shoulder and he just watched her. “I tell you that need you sharp, and then I push you so hard for so long you can’t keep up. I’m sorry Gage,” she said quietly as she ran her thumb over the back of his hand. He watched it for a moment as he tried to process what she was saying. 

“I’m fine, really. It’s just a bruise and some-”

“You aren’t fine though. You’re sick and tired and I can see it on your face,” she told him, looking up at him. “You’re so capable and smart, Gage, but you’re so exhausted right now you can’t even focus for more than a few minutes.” He just stared at her and felt like his heart was breaking. She was saying he’d failed her, that he couldn’t keep up and somehow that was so much worse than anything he’d even considered. He’d let himself go soft and he’d lost his edge, he was going to be nothing but dead weight. He’d take a Pack shiv in the kidney now, that’d be better than this. This was like all the worst parts of pity mixed in with failure and-

“Gage, stay with me,” Kincaid’s voice cracked and he looked back at her again. He could feel his eye starting to burn and he could feel the tingle in his nose. He didn’t care what tangle of emotions he was trying to shove down, Porter Gage did not cry though, he refused. He hadn’t cried properly since his nan had died and he wasn’t about to start now. 

“Gage?” Kincaid asked again, and he focused entirely on her.

She looked so tired, so exhausted after the hunting party. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, secured just above the nape of her neck with curls exploding out. She had no makeup on so nothing was covering the starts of a bruise crawling up her jaw as she spoke. There was nothing covering the thin scars that ran up and across her cheeks, respectively, and nothing hiding the two vicious bullet scars that were perched just above her left brow. His eye traced those scars, how they were so close. No one should have survived that, it should have been impossible. And yet she crawled out of her own grave like some banshee out of hell. 

Gage just wanted to lean in and press a kiss to the warped flesh. He needed her to know it was alright, that it was his fault, not hers. It wasn’t her fault he’d gone soft, lost his edge, fallen completely head over heels for everything about her. It wasn’t going to be her fault when some upstart buried a shiv in his side and finally ended his miserable excuse for an existence. She touched his face and he leaned into it, and for a moment everything was alright. No one was going to kill him, or touch him or hurt him or a million other things. It was just him, just her, and they were alone. It was just a moment though. 

“Gage, come on, let’s get to the tent. You need to rest.” She sounded exasperated, and he realized he’d tuned everything out again. It made his stomach twist up in fear and shame, and he felt like he was going to hurl from the anxiety alone. His blood was running so cold in his veins, like ice water flowing through him and chilling him to the bone. She helped him stand and he swayed slightly on his feet but stayed mostly steady. He focused on putting one foot in front of the other as she quietly talked to him about nothing and everything. It was a low drone in his ears as he shuffled his way out of the triage tent and into the fresh air of the repurposed restaurant. 

“I’m ok, I can make it if you wanna go down and celebrate,” Gage told her quietly. He wasn’t sure why she was still dealing with him when he couldn’t even focus on what she was saying. All he could think about was how annoying it must have been, she had to repeat everything and it still wouldn’t penetrate his thick skull. She just hummed and he swallowed down the cold lump of metaphorical iron in his guts. He was so god damn fuckin’ fucked as far as he was concerned. She could have said jump and he’d ask how high, not because she was the Overboss, but because she was her. She pulled aside the flap to the tent and he ducked inside, making his way over to the blankets he’d slept in the night before. 

He sat down and looked up at Kincaid, who just watched him. “I’m ok, honest.” Gage asserted as he started to undo the lacing on his boots. “You can go have fun boss, I’ll be fine.” He wasn’t fine, though. Not when he was afraid of a shiv in the dark sliding deep into his flesh. But she didn’t need to know that, she had enough on her mind already without his problems.

She hesitated though as she watched him take off his boots and set them to the side. His patch quickly followed as did his shirt. Kincaid licked her lips and wrung her hands as if she were weighing her options. She looked nervous, for once, and that worried Gage. She had never looked nervous when they were alone together. She was always cocky and confident and everything Gage was not. He didn’t want her to worry, to fear for him or fear him. He wanted her to be comfortable.

“Caid, please,” Gage whispered as he watched her shuffle from foot to foot. “I’m ok, go have fun.” 

She instead came deeper into the tent, apparently having come to a decision. Gage was unsure what that decision was exactly, but she shucked off her coat and sat down beside him. She draped the warm heavy leather over his shoulders before giving his hand a light squeeze. 

“Nah, don’t feel like it,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Rather be here with you, I think.” 

Gage’s stomach did a flip and he watched her, how she let her eyes drift closed and how her hand rest against his own. He could feel his heart beat hard against his ribs, and for a moment he entertained the thought of it breaking his ribs apart. Her thumb drifted over his knuckles and he stared at their hands for a moment. If she hadn’t been a lesbian, he’d have leaned over and kissed her. He’d have confessed everything to her, right at the moment. But she was a lesbian, and she was his friend. She would never love him the way he loved her, and that ached, so deep inside. So very very deep. 

Instead of facing this ache, Gage eased himself down onto the pillows Mason had provided the night before, and Kincaid laid down beside him. She brushed aside her curls and pulled the blankets up around them. She patted his arm and curled up, letting out a quiet little sigh. “Sleep love, no one will get you tonight, I promise.” He wanted desperately to believe her, so he forced himself to relax. He let his eye closed and resisted the urge to flinch away when her hand came up and touched his face. “It's alright. Rest, I’ll protect you.” 

He didn’t really remember falling asleep, but he remembered her hand in his and how their fingers were interlaced. He dreamt of feather-light touches and petal soft lips against his brow, of sunsets and sunrises.

He was woken up by a heavy hand on his shoulder, and his eye fluttered open. It was bright inside the tent, the light leaking through the light canvas. His whole body ached, and he didn’t want to move. 

“Gage?” Mason’s voice, real quiet like. No panic, far as Gage could tell. He rolled over and blinked slowly as Mason watched him. The Alpha had no war paint, no colors clashing across his face. His mustache wasn’t waxed, and his hair was pulled back into a bun. He idly thought that Gage liked him like this, without all the pomp and circumstance of having to look like an Alpha. He looked concerned and Gage couldn’t figure out why.

Gage had never noticed that Mason had brown eyes. There was a lot about Mason that Gage had never noticed, like how his eyes were deep set and his brows naturally tilted upwards like a worried dog. Fitting, as far as Gage was concerned. The Alpha was god damn broad too. Gage had wide set shoulders but compared to Mason? Gage looked like a tiny little runt of a thing. The Alpha was built like a brick shit house, and Gage was surprised he felt no fear at all.

Probably still half asleep, if he was honest with himself. 

“You awake?” Mason asked, and Gage narrowed his eye. He made a non-committal noise before pulling the blankets tighter around himself. “Caid’s gettin’ ready to head out, gonna go back to that big buildin’ we explored.” This pulled Gage awake, and he shoved himself up quickly. 

“Figured you’d wanna come along.” Mason chuckled as Gage rubbed the sleep from his eye. Gage fixed him with a glare and pulled back on his favorite tank top and yanked his boots onto his feet. Mason offered him his eyepatch, and Gage snatched it out of his hands. Gage was surprised how quickly the backing on the thing was wearing down, inspecting the pad Kincaid had put on it before sliding it onto his face. Mason was watching him close, real fuckin’ close, and it made Gage’s skin crawl. 

“You got a reason you’re watchin’ me like a fuckin’ hawk?” Gage asked as he rubbed his neck. Mason snorted and sat back, seemingly satisfied. Gage didn’t like that, he didn’t like that at all. 

“You were fucked up yesterday, shoulda sat out but you didn’t. Pushed yourself too far and you scared our dear sweet hummin’ bird half to death. Jus’ makin’ sure I ain’t gonna have to throw you in the brig to keep you from doin’ it again.” Mason explained with a hand gesture. Gage wrinkled his nose and started tucking his tank top into his pants. 

“Well, you don’t,” Gage assured him as he buckled his belt and shoved himself up. He grabbed his armor, hauling it close. “I’m fine, just fuckin’ peachy,” Gage growled real low and shoved aside the flap to the tent. Fear welled up inside of him again, but none of the Pack Animals that were bustling about were even paying him half a mind. Gage slipped into his armor and worked the buckles quickly. Mason crawled out of the tent behind him and followed as Gage picked up a light breakfast from the mess before heading to the edge of camp. Kincaid was looking over the horizon, her eyes locked on the massive building in the center of the park. 

“That’s where they’re cloning them,” she told Gage as he got close. He looked over at her before looking to the building. “The scientists confessed everything.” She voice was cold, almost unnervingly unemotional. It just wasn’t like the Kincaid that Gage knew. “They brought these creatures into the world, only to abandon them to hellfire and radiation,” Kincaid mused quietly, her knuckles going pale as her grip tightened around the railing. Gage watched and for a moment, he felt fear in his guts. There was something wrong, wrong with Kincaid. She was taking something personally, and he had no idea what or why. She had no reason to, cloned animals were just as fucked up as any other poor mutated creature in the wasteland. 

She shook her head and looked over at Gage, scanning his face. “You look better. Less like you’re gonna pass out on me at any moment,” she told him, reaching up and tapped his nose before he could react. She laughed as he scrunched his face up and took a step back. 

“Thanks,” Gage grumbled, looking back to the center of the park. He couldn’t stop the heat rushing to his cheeks, but that was alright- they had bigger fish to fry. 

A small hunting party was called, and they gathered promptly. The group was armed and ready to go before noon, and soon, Kincaid was leading them through the thick tree cover. Gage found it easy to fall in line and was surprised to find the Pack Animals were not as wary of him as they had been before. He couldn’t make sense of it, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

They crept through the wood until they were perched just over where he and Mason had found Kincaid’s bag. The plaza was empty. It was still early in the day, but the air hot and still. One by one the Pack dropped from the trees on their ropes, landing in the leaf litter with nothing but a soft crunch. Gage followed suit, albeit with less grace. Cito landed beside him, and ED-E was nowhere to be seen. The bot was probably out scouting, seeing if it could count the number of gators. That was the sort of thing Kincaid would have sent it on, as far as Gage could figure. 

Kincaid just stepped off the limb and landed with a heavy thud. No use in silence apparently. Gage could feel his bones ache just watching her land, how she rose up like it was nothing. She turned and looked at him, a big smile stretching across her face. “Superhero landing.” She pointed her fingers at him and he rolled his eye.

The Pack Animals flared out at Cito’s command as Kincaid, Mason, and Gage made their way into the plaza. All was still, but Gage couldn’t shake the feeling they were being watched. He kept his eye on the tree line as Mason and Kincaid bantered back and forth. They were walking in the wide open, right up to the glass doors. 

“Remember, its a pull door,” Gage mentioned as Mason got close to the handle. Mason’s hand hovered over it as he looked over at Gage, his nose wrinkling up. Gage couldn’t resist the smile that stretched across his lips. It was made even better by the laughter that twittered out of Kincaid. This felt good, it felt right as Kincaid smacked his bicep and snorted and Mason sputtered and grumbled. Mason’s hand landed on the door handle and his mouth opened to give some sharp retort when the air shivered around them with a deafening roar. 

A shrill robotic scream filled the air as ED-E came charging out of the woods, flying as fast as its jets could take it. Gage watched it cross the clearing, barrelling right into the wood where the Pack Animals were waiting. He knew what was coming, he knew it, deep in his bones. He turned back to the woods and out charged a massive piebald Gatorclaw, bigger than anything they’d fought previously. It landed with a heavy thud in the clearing, and for a moment everything was still. 

It shoved itself up onto its hind legs and it took stock of Kincaid, Mason, and Gage. Its beady eyes sized each of them up, and Gage was sure it was thinking about making them it’s next meal. Its jaws dripped with saliva and blood as if it had killed recently. It turned, heaving its massive body to face them as it dropped down to all fours. It let out another roar, so loud Gage’s head ached and his ears rang. 

It didn’t matter how fast the pack reacted, the beast was right there and it charged right at Kincaid. Gage didn’t think; he didn’t breathe; he just leaped to action. He threw himself into Kincaid and shoved her out of the way.

He didn’t feel the glass; he was too preoccupied with the gatorclaw jaws that had snapped shut around the bars of his armor. They tumbled through the glass doors, and into the reception desk. Gage braced himself for the impact but there was no real way to prepare for that much animal to slam him into the ground. He felt the air forced from his chest, and the bruise that had bloomed up his side screamed in protest. The jaws let go of his armor and it shoved itself up, its tail lashing back and forth as it righted itself.

Gage grabbed his rifle, which had been hanging from the strap. He was unhappy to find the stock had broken, but the rest of the gun fired just fine as he emptied his clip into the claw’s soft underbelly. The thing roared above him and turned to look down, its baleful eyes locking on him. It roared and Gage rolled as its claws scraped down, gouging deep into the wood where Gage had been laying before. Gage scrambled to get up, but the Gator’s claws caught on the back of his armor and he was thrown into the far wall as it tried to shake itself loose. He hit the wall with a thud, and for a moment he saw stars. 

Briefly, he wondered where Kincaid was at?

He sank down the brick and pressed his hand to his side. No blood there at least, just a deep ache. The back of his head was not so lucky, he could feel the blood cooling as it ran down his neck. He’d worry about it later, as the claw was turning its attention from him to the outside. That wasn’t going to do, it wasn’t going to do at all. 

 

“Hey, asshole!” Gage snarled, his own voice causing his head to throb. The claw turned to him and he pulled his pistol from the holster on his belt. “Yeah, you!” Gage squeezed off one shot, then two. The bullets did nothing to the thing’s face, but it did keep its attention off of whatever was going on outside. “Stay the fuck away from my Overboss!” Gage shouted, and the Gatorclaw tilted its head just so. It took a step forward, lumbering towards him.

Honestly, he hadn’t thought this far. He wasn’t quite sure what he planned to do, but he knew that he needed to do something. He moved away from the brick wall so that he was in front of the glass windows. If he could get the thing to bust its way out, he’d have time to run and regroup- if they could regroup they could survive, or at least, he’d survive. 

The thing watched him, unmoving, unblinking. It huffed and snorted, letting its front limbs rest on the ground. Gage braced himself, ready for it to charge, to attack, to do anything. 

“Let him go you scaley-ass son of a bitch!” Kincaid roared, and both Gage and the monster broke contact as Kincaid ran up the beast’s back with her cherry bat in hand. The gatorclaw looked up as she slammed the wood into its skull. The claw shook violently, trying to throw her off. She leaped down and landed on her feet before slamming her bat into its throat, the claw’s head snapping back. 

Gage stared, completely dumbfounded, for a moment before his senses came back to him. She was not supposed to be saving his ass yet again, he wasn’t going to have it. He reloaded his gun as he charged over to the now distracted gatorclaw and he emptied another clip into its soft belly. It twitched and turned towards him, only to take Kincaid’s bat to the side of its face. 

“Porter! Back the FUCK off I got this!” Kincaid shouted as she brought down another heavy blow on the thing’s head.

“Like FUCK I am!” Gage growled as he shoved another clip into his broken rifle. He was not about to let her take all the glory, to risk herself to save him yet again. When the thing whipped around to look at him he grabbed his gun by the broken stock and slammed his rifle into its throat. It’s head whipped around and Gage suddenly felt weightless. It came crashing down as he hit the tile, his armor digging into his sides as he tried to roll and shove himself up. 

His vision blurred as he watched Kincaid get bat aside like a gnat, and his heart stopped when she hit the wall and slumped down. He got his boots under him, his eye locked on her as the claw shook its head and got its bearings. The thing turned to her, hissing and chuffing as it moved. It paced, stalking her as she moaned softly and palmed her face. 

Gage charged forward, grabbing his boot knife as he did. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with it, but he was out of bullets for his rifle and his pistol hadn’t done shit. 

He remembered though- throat, pits, belly. And that thing was so focused on Kincaid it didn’t even look as Gage dodged under its massive arm and reared back. His knife sank into the soft flesh of its throat with a satisfying squelch, and the beast threw itself to the side to try and escape. 

Gage was pulled along with it, trying to rip at its hide with his knife. His blade began to drag, ripping a longer and longer hole the more the gatorclaw tried to escape him. He was bathed in its blood as his knife cut it deep, but his blade caught on the creature’s collar bones. Gage fell to the ground with a ‘oof’ as the beast swayed above him, looking disoriented. It fell forward, first to its knees, and then down entirely like a thundering sack of bricks.

He felt the bars of his armor give out under the ribcage of the creature, and pain bit up his chest as they started to turn inwards. Gage tried to shove the thing off, but the dead weight pinned him. Every moment the thing was on top of him felt like an eternity, he couldn’t move or breathe and for a moment he was afraid. 

He was afraid he was going to die here.

His brain was screaming, for oxygen, or out of fear, or something. But something welled up deep in his guts, a sort of angry indignation. If the bloodworm queen hadn’t been able to kill him, and the AI in Galactic Zone hadn’t managed to fry him, like hell he was going to die pinned under an overgrown lizard that got too big for its damn britches. Gage renewed his struggle, trying with all his strength to shove the gatorclaw off.

To his surprise, the beast moved. He quickly found out it wasn’t because of his efforts though, as Mason reached under and grabbed him by the bars that crossed over his shoulders. He slid out from under the beast and gasped fresh air, his hands going up and locking tight around Mason’s wrists as the Alpha hauled him all the way out. It hurt to breathe though, every inhale caused sharp, stabbing pain.

He tried to sit up but the sharp pain only got worse when he moved, so he laid there flat on his back and tried to catch his breath. It hurt, but the pain told him he was alive. And that was worth it. 

“Yellow Metal Friend?” Cito asked, coming into Gage’s view. 

“Yeah?” Gage rasped up at the wild man, who smiled wide.

“Hold on, Mason back soon,” Cito told him, and Gage nodded along. He wasn’t sure where Mason went, but with how much he was hurting he wasn’t about to go running off. Curious though, Gage did try and look down at his chest- only to have Cito’s hand cover his face. “Do not look, bad,” Cito warned, and Gage laid back. 

He really did not like that. 

“Gage?” Kincaid asked softly, and Gage tilted his head towards the sound. He couldn’t see her, but he heard her. She was getting up, and she sounded shaky. 

Gage sucked in another painful breath and licked his lips. “Yeah boss?” he asked as she wandered into his field of view. 

She looked at his chest and he could see her eyes widen before she looked back at him. “You feeling ok?” that was not a good sign, she was trying to keep calm. He could see the panic in her eyes though, and it worried him.

“Kinda hard to breathe,” Gage admitted. Cito looked up at Kincaid, scratching at his beard as she moved to get a better look at whatever mess Gage’s chest was. He winced and she looked back to him with her brows all pulled together. 

“Mason be back,” Cito told them both with a nod. 

“So what’s the damage boss?” Gage asked lowly. If he was dyin’ slow, he’d rather know about it. He wasn’t about to spend his last moments a simpering sap, but he also refused to let himself die without telling Kincaid exactly what he thought of her. No matter how fuckin’ sappy it was.

“Well,” Kincaid paused as she knelt down beside him and looked at his chest. “You know how I said the roll cage was a bad idea?” Kincaid spoke real slow like, and Gage frowned. “Well, when the ‘claw fell on you, your armor bent in, like, real bad.” She put her hand on his shoulder to keep him from trying to sit up again. 

“Mason!” Cito exclaimed excitedly, and Gage looked over as much as he was able to around Kincaid. He had a spike of panic as Mason came close with a massive set of rusty red bolt cutters. 

“Hold still,” Mason said without any preamble. “I’m gonna try to make sure this doesn’t hurt.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter that leads to the first smut chapter! This is finally the chapter that leads into the first chapter of Devil Like You! We won't be posting the smut here, so if you'd like to read that part (and you're old enough to do so ;p) you can find out what happens next you can read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17981939/chapters/42475184
> 
> Enjoy the fluff while it lasts :3


	35. Somebody To Love

It only hurt a little bit when Mason cut off his roll cage. It hurt a little more when the little green haired Pack medic had picked all of the glass out of his back and sewed up the back of his head. It had hurt even worse when Kincaid insisted they leave Safari Adventure so that he could get checked out by Bridgeman.

Then they got caught in that radstorm on their way and they had to bunker down in a service tunnel.

The first day was uneventful and the first half of the second was just as uneventful.

And then Gage made a mistake. He made a mistake and then just went all in, with another, and another, and another, because he just couldn't not do things that would fuck up his whole life. He used to believe that God just liked shitting on him, but now he was starting to think that all of the bad shit in his life was just the culmination of a life of bad decisions. They had slept together and, somehow, it hadn't been a wet dream, or some kinda fantasy that gave him comfort late at night. He sat with his back to their bedrolls and stared at the fire he'd reignited from the embers of the one Kincaid had started. His heart hammered in his chest as she slept soundly, spread over both their bedrolls.

He tried to tell himself that this wasn't abnormal. It really wasn't uncommon for raider bosses to seek gratification from their second in command, but he couldn't escape the fact that this was different. This was Kincaid, and she was a lesbian. Maybe. Gage wasn't sure now. There was one thing he could be absolutely sure of, however.

He had made a terrible fuckin’ mistake.

If anyone found out, if any of the bosses found out, they’d both be dead. Or worse. Honestly, he could handle dying, really he could. He had made peace with the idea of his death when Conner left him for dead all those years ago. It was the idea of Kincaid dying that really got him. The thoughts worked their way into his brain like maggots. He could see it, oh so vividly. He could see Nisha pulling her knife across Kincaid’s face, leaving her torn and scarred before stringing her up by her wrists and bringing her wicked knife against Kincaid’s soft flesh-

Gage choked, shaking his head violently. He didn’t want to think about that, he didn’t want those thoughts squirming in his head. He glanced back at Kincaid, and took a shivering breath. It was as much to make sure she was still there as it was to make sure she was still asleep. 

She was. No one had snatched her away while he wasn’t looking.

He turned back to stare into the fire and ran his hand over his scalp. It was difficult, between his racing thoughts and the way he fluctuated between hot and cold, it had him worried that he had another infection. Beyond that though, there was no good way to spin what he had done. When he had failed Kincaid at the Operators' party, he had arguments for how he hadn't completely failed. He kept Dixie's attention on him, and not on Kincaid. He could pretend he kept her from getting stabbed, but this? This was a disaster waiting to happen.

He heard the blankets rustle behind him and Gage froze. He strained his hearing, somehow not permanently damaged in their adventures, and waited for her to say something, but it never came. He chanced another glance back at her and saw that Kincaid had rolled over in her sleep and taken over his travel pillow. She faced his back now, and she let out a soft hum as she squirmed to get comfortable in this new position. She had pulled a bunched up section of a blanket underneath her face to act as a sort of a second pillow, and Gage couldn't help but stare as she let out a snore that sounded like a snorting brahmin and drooled all over the blanket.

She was so soft, and he didn't mean how soft her skin had felt under his hands. Though that was very very soft. She wasn't a raider, not like him. She was kind and gentle and, Jesus, he didn't deserve half the kindness she gave him. She could play real well at being a raider, especially when she was having fun with the Pack and the Operators, but deep down, everyone knew that's all it was. 

She was playing, and eventually, the fun would end. She might have been a cannibal and she might not fit in with polite society, but none of that made her a raider. She just wasn't cruel, not like him anyway. He was nothin' but a sinner and she was a ray of sunshine by the grace of God. He couldn't look away from her light, in the way her hair splayed out, curled around her head like a halo, and how she seemed to just glow in the firelight. It just killed him from the inside out in the best way possible.

He forced himself to look away. He shouldn't be having these thoughts. Here there be monsters. He knew that. But then, he thought he knew a lot of things. He thought he knew Kincaid. He had thought she was a lesbian, admittedly by her own words, and he thought he'd end up having to watch her be happy with some pretty girl that caught her eye. He thought he would have to step aside, and he would. Instead, she had crawled into his lap and turned everything he thought he knew upside down. He closed his eye to focus on blocking everything out, but it didn't help.

A thousand images assaulted him in the darkness of his mind. He remembered a thousand moments, some good and beautiful, of her, how her skin felt under his hands, of her nails raking down his stomach, but most of them were bad, of Nisha dragging her knife down his chest, Colter with his heavy wrench. He saw things that hadn't happened as if they were memories. He saw Kincaid with a garrote around her neck, Nisha pulling her deep into the depths of Fizztop. He could see Dixie getting her hands on Caid and making an example of her in the middle of the market, skinning her, taking a knife up Kincaid's stomach and splitting her in two. He could imagine what her robotic lungs would look like, how her metal spine would glisten in the gore.

His own brain was his worst enemy. He shoved his palm into his good eye in a fruitless attempt to chase away the bad thoughts, only to realize he was trembling. He pulled his hand away and realized he had been crying.

He forcefully wiped away the tears, but it didn't help. He was fucked. He was so goddamn fucked.

"Gage?" He froze again. He hadn't heard her move, so he hadn't expected her to wake up. No, no, no, no, this was the last thing he needed. He couldn't deal with this. "Gage, honey, are you okay?"

"M'fine," he said. He kept his back to the bedrolls and pretended he voice hadn't wavered. He knew he wasn't fine; he knew it deep in the very fiber of his being, but he needed her to go back to sleep. He needed more time to come to terms with what happened, what he had done. He waited, and hoped that she would roll over again and go back to sleep. Instead, he felt her hand run up his back and he came out of his skin.

He scrambled away from her and then felt worse for doing so. She had taken him by surprise, even though he really shouldn't have been, and the touch, as gentle and soft as it was, was still too much. He looked over at her, more out of habit than anything, and instantly regretted it. There were equal parts of sleep and concern in her eyes, which felt all too much like pity. He hair was frizzy on one side where she had nuzzled into his pillow and, of course, she was still naked, entirely fucking naked. He averted his gaze to literally anywhere but her. Heat rose over his face, and he could feel it seep down his neck and shoulders.

"Gage, please talk to me." She sighed and rubbed her face, continuing the motion to run her hand through her hair in some kind of attempt to tame her bedhead.

“I'm. Fine," Gage grit out. He turned away from her and pulled his legs to his chest as he stared into the fire again. That was safe. There were no images of Kincaid flayed on a market table, no thoughts of a stab to his gut, in the flames of the little fire. "I just," he paused as he fought to keep his words steady, "got a lot to think about is all." He felt too jittery. He decided he needed a cig and turned to root through his things. It took too long to find them, but he did and pulled one out. He put the filter in his mouth as he tried to locate his lighter too. Unlike his cigarettes, he couldn't find it in any of his pockets or in his pack. He tried not let it bother him, but it was just one more thing on top of his pile of complicated issues. He let out a little defeated noise, that came out entirely too close to a sob for his comfort.

He heard Kincaid rustle around with something next to him, and then the telltale sound of a match on a striking strip. He chanced a look to see her holding out a little flame. He took it and quickly looked away as he lit his cig. The first puff did a lot to calm his nerves, but it really wasn't enough. He tossed what remained of the match into the fire before it could burn his hand.

"Cap for your thoughts?" she asked, He resolutely refused to look at her, but he could practically see that little tilt of her head in his mind's eye. He closed his eye and shook the thought from his head. He took a second, longer drag from his cig to calm himself. He let out the smoke in a shuddery breath. This second drag helped about as much as the first if he was honest. He just sat in silence for a moment, just contemplating. He needed more time, but it was time he didn't have.

A clever thought struck him and he held out his hand, palm up. She heard her laugh and the rustle before she slid a cap into his hand. Even in this state, it made him smile. He looked over the dented metal and ran his thumb across the crown. There was something comforting in how the edge pressed into the gun callous on his thumb. He understood caps, caps were simple. He played with the cap and took another drag of his cig as he fought to get his thoughts in order.

"I'm afraid," he finally admitted. He couldn't bring himself to speak above a whisper, even though this was Kincaid. He rubbed at his face, as if that would rub away his stress, and looked back at her. He couldn't stop himself from glancing down at her bare tits before he made himself look away. "Can you, uh." He couldn't think of a polite way to ask, and for Kincaid, it mattered to be polite, specifically for her. She liked that, but he couldn't think straight anyway, and it was worse with her tits out. She was pretty sure she wasn't wearing pants either, not that he allowed himself the glance to check. "Uh, clothes, boss. I can't- I need you to put some clothes on," Gage finally managed in a whisper. "Please."

Raiders didn’t say please, and yet here he was.

He could feel the tips of his ears burn as he resolutely stared at the cap in his hand. He heard her laughter again. It was the same, but somehow so much worse than before. His face started to burn and he felt stupid for having to ask. He was a raider, not some green teenager who ain't never seen a tit before. He let out a shuddery huff and tried to focus on his cig as Kincaid rustled around behind him. He couldn't remember where her clothes ended up the night before, but he didn't hear the zipper of her bag, so she probably found those. He heard her footsteps come closer and out of the corner of his eye, he saw her sit back down. He refused to look just yet, but it was like he could feel her eyes on him.

"Better?" she asked and he chanced another peek. She was in the tank top and panties that had been discarded in their- He stopped that line of thought. He'd spiral again and he knew Kincaid wanted answers. Even though she'd done exactly as he asked, he wasn't sure he'd be able to give her that. It was better though, more normal, to have her in clothes. He could pretend it was any other morning in their little home on Fizztop. Well, he couldn't pretend that, but he could try. Finally, he remembered she had asked a question, so he gave her a brisk nod.

She leaned her head against his shoulder, and he just wasn't sure if it was too much, or not enough, or even exactly what he needed. He didn't tell her to move though, just took another drag and stared into the fire. She let him be silent for a while. He was still sorting his thoughts, but she didn't seem to mind how long he was taking. Even if it was too much, even if he needed space, he didn't mind too much at that moment. He dropped the cap and laced his arm around her shoulders and let out another shivery sigh. She put her hand on his, the one resting on her arm, and drifted her thumb over his knuckles. He just watched her for a moment. He knew he could trust her, but it was still so damn difficult.

"I'm-" Gage paused as he tried to make himself say it aloud. "I'm afraid because-" he paused again, gritting his teeth. It was too difficult, too hard to vocalize his fears. How could he explain the million and one fears that had been crawling up his spine since long before she got there? How could he tell her about the thousands of horror scenarios that went through his head daily? How he'd watched her die in his mind over and over again. Jesus, how could he explain any of it?

There was no way he could.

He threw the butt of his cig into the fire and pressed the heel of his hand into his good eye as a wave of nausea washed over him. He pulled his arm from around her. He was going to damn her too if he hadn't already. He shuddered and barely felt Kincaid put her hand on his shoulder.

"Porter?" her voice wavered as Gage curled up as tightly as he could. Her hand wavered on his shoulder, as though she were afraid he might shatter at the lightest touch. He could see her out of the corner of his eye. She looked concerned, more concerned than he'd ever seen, but he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't even get his breathing under control. She sat back on her calves and waited for him as he sucked in breath after breath.

"Nisha," he choked out. He made himself look over at Kincaid. Her look of concern morphed into a smile, as though this were all so funny to her. It felt like he was being crushed again, trapped under a dying gatorclaw. Anger welled up where it didn't normally with her. Oddly enough, it helped. "I'm being serious!" he snapped.

The smile fell from Kincaid's face. Without a word, she stood up and Gage just watched her. His heart beat faster and faster, as he expected her to finish getting dressed and sling her bag over her shoulder. He'd gone too far, and she was going to leave. He tried to tell himself it was better that way. She'd be safer.

She didn't go over to her abandoned pants. Instead, she walked over to their bedrolls and grabbed one of their travel blankets. He didn't move when she draped it around his shoulders. He watched her dig through her bag. Some part of him fully expected her to leave, but she pulled a small kettle, a can of water, and some kind of dark powder in a plastic jar. She poured the water in and set it in the edge of the fire. Before she sat down, she also put a fresh pack of cigs and her book of matches in front of him.

"Can I touch you, or is that too much?" she asked. He nodded, but still froze when she lifted one edge of the blanket to snuggle up to his side. She took one hand and intertwined their fingers. "Nisha can't get you here." She looked him in the eye and her voice sounded so sure like she was making a solemn vow, but he couldn't believe it. Nisha may not be able to get them here, in this specific tunnel this exact minute, but she would always get what she wanted in the end. He hadn't realized he had looked away until Kincaid gently touched his chin to bring him back to her eye level. "She will never get you. Ever."

“I won’t let her.”

She sounded so sure, he almost believed her for a moment. He was calm until he blinked and the visual of her face with the skin peeled back, the metal of her bones exposed, flashed past his eye. He looked away again, and she didn't try to guide him back. He locked his eye on the fire again.

"It's- I'm-" he stopped and took a deep breath. He rubbed his arm as he tried to force himself to put the words together. He glanced down at the pack of cigs in front of him, they were solid, safe. He lit another cig and took a deep drag. It helped if only give him time to stop himself from tripping over his words. "It's not me I'm afraid for," he said quietly. It was just Kincaid, but he couldn't shake the feeling that had never quite left him since he had been grabbed out of the fizztop lobby. That feeling that Nisha would crawl out of the shadows and skin them both just for the thrill of it. Kincaid looked at him with her head tilted. "You shafted Nisha, took away her promised park. Or you will, when you finally hand out the parks." Now that the words were escaping his mouth, there was nothing he could do to stop them.

"And I- she- I know Russ told you what happened. She cut me as much as she could without killing me, and she showed me everything," he continued. The longer he talked, the faster he spoke. He couldn't stop the panic that seeped into his chest as he told her everything. "She will kill us, and she'll make me watch as you die slowly in the worst way she can think of. She’ll flay the skin from your bones, peel back the muscles fiber by fiber as you squirm-”

“Gage, take a breath.” Kincaid said softly, she took his hand in hers and Gage just stared at it.

Gage trembled like a newborn radstag. He struggled to take another drag of his cig, and Kincaid laced her fingers through his again. “She promised me, and she ain't the type to break promises, that she would cut me long and deep. She’d hit me with a stim, slow down the bleeding before she starts pulling out my organs one by one.” His voice cracked and he felt shame start to well up into his throat. He shouldn’t have started, but now he couldn’t stop. 

"And I can't- All I see- Jesus." Gage choked on his words and Kincaid rubbed his back in slow circular motions. It helped calm him enough to keep going. "All I can see is Nisha hurtin' you," he whispered. He took another drag of his cig and flicked the ash that had gathered into the fire. "I can't let her hurt you. It ain't because you're the boss, but because- Because you're- you." Gage looked over at her and the way she looked at him, with the hope in her eyes, just melted his heart. "You said you were in too deep, that you couldn't make a clean break." Gage watched her face, waiting for any expression at all to cross it. "Well, I'm in too deep. I've been in too deep since I met you. Christ, I was in too deep the moment you looked at me, the moment you stared at me through the camera. And-"

She smiled that sweet smile, the one with far more kindness than he deserved that always made his heart speed up just a little.

"And I need you." Gage wasn't entirely sure he'd said the words aloud, with how many times he'd said it in his head. "I need you, Kincaid."

"It's alright, Gage," she said with a soft sigh. She reached up and touched his face. He couldn't help himself but lean into it. Her thumb brushed under his ruined eye socket. He closed his eye and, for just that moment, everything was okay. He didn't see the images of Nisha torturing Kincaid. He didn't see the two of them strung up in the market for their failure. He let out a breath and purposefully leaned more into Kincaid's touch. Even if it was only for this moment, he was going to enjoy the contact.

"We can't do this," he whispered. He didn't want to break the moment, but all things came to an end, and this would too. A look of confusion spread across Kincaid's face. "They'll use it against us." Gage pulled away from her hand. His cigarette, mostly unused except for one or two drags to calm his nerves that didn't really work, had burned down to the filter anyway. He threw it into the fire and wrapped his arms around his legs. His voice was more even now, more sure. "If we go soft, if we let anyone know, they'll use it against us." Gage looked away from the fire, at her, and instantly regretted it. She looked at him like he was everything- and he’d just shattered her whole world, and he wasn't sure if it broke him or her, or both of them.

"They'll kill us," he said with as much finality as he could. Gage looked away from her and tucked his head into his arms. 

He didn't want to pull away. It hurt, like a migraine building in his temples. It hurt deep, deeper than Nisha ever cut him. It was for their own good, though, to keep them, her, alive. His breath hitched and he felt his eye start to burn. He tried to stop it, but he felt the hot tears start to run down his face. They burned his cheeks and his pride. She tried to reach up and touch his face and he jerked away from her. He felt his shoulders shudder and he couldn’t control it. He wept, wrapped up in the blanket as Kincaid sat next to him. She didn’t touch him, but he could feel her eyes. That unblinking gaze that made everything hurt so much worse. 

"Porter, I don't understand," Kincaid said. Her voice cracked and he couldn't bring himself to look at her. The kettle in the fire started to whistle and her focus shifted to care for it. He ran his hands down the sides of his head and tried to focus on something physical, something solid and real. He felt the stubble that was growing in, rough against his palms. It was enough to ground him a little. He heard her set a mug next to him. He glanced at it, but he couldn't look at her. He just watched the dark liquid swirl in the cup. "I thought coffee might help." She sounded so confident like this was just another morning in Fizztop. He didn't look up, he couldn't, and she let out the tiniest little sigh he'd ever heard. "Gage, please." Kincaid's voice sounded like it would break at any moment. "Please, I don’t understand, why can’t we just be happy, just us?"

He couldn't help the bubble of anger that welled in his chest. It was like she hadn't been paying attention since she got here. He knew she was playing at being a raider, but it was like she could even comprehend that it wasn't just a game for the rest of them.

"I'm a raider!" Gage snapped. He finally made himself look up. If only to see the hurt that would play on her face when he raised his voice, without any playfulness they might have had before. He deserved that punishment and more for getting her mixed up in his mess. She fell back, away from him. "I'm a raider, and so it everyone in these fucking parks!" A look of fear spread over her face, her brows knitting together. It was a surprised fear, as though it hadn't even occurred to her that she could be scared of him. It broke something inside of him, something he couldn't explain or give a name to. He sucked in a shaky breath and threw the blanket from his shoulders. He pushed himself up and accidentally knocked over the coffee she'd put beside him in his attempt to put space between them. "Raiders kill each other! They'll take ever’ goddamn weakness you have and worm their knives into each and ever’ soft spot you let them see." Gage balled his hands into fists. "They'll break you. They'll ruin you and leave nothing but a goddamn husk of a person."

She stared up at him, her eyes wide. She clutched at the blanket, though she didn't even begin to notice the coffee that had started to seep into the hem. It hurt; god, it hurt to look at her, to see her stare at him that way. He never wanted her to look at him like that. It was like she thought he might hurt her. It made his guts twist up and his brain do flips.

"I'm a raider," he repeated, his voice dropped low. "And raiders don't do 'soft,' they stab each other in the back. They get each other killed." Gage turned away so he didn't have to see that fear and started to pace. “I should have never begged you to come back. I should have let you leave when you got the chance. Now I’ll get you killed.” Gage covered his mouth, just saying it made his heartache. He wanted to find some dark place to hide, someplace he could get away from everything, from Kincaid. 

There was nothing though. The service tunnel was empty, the halls collapsed. There was nothing but the rad storm outside and the darkness on the edge of the fire. He went away from the fire, towards those blessed shadows. He had been trying to put as much distance between Kincaid and himself as possible. 

She didn’t take the fuckin’ hint though, and got up and followed.

She followed him to the far end of the tunnel, and she followed him when he turned on his heel and paced over to the door. She kept saying his name, or pet names, and it made his stomach twist into knots as she followed him in circles. “Gage?” Her voice wavered, and it twisted his insides. He couldn’t take this, he couldn’t handle it. He needed to get away, but he had no options. Well, he had one option, but it wasn't a good one. He glanced at the door that kept them safe from the radstorm.

Fuck it.

If his skin melted off his bones, then it fuckin’ melted off. It was the least he deserved, puttin’ her through this shit. 

“Porter!” 

He threw open the door and stepped out into the wind. The air howled and wailed around him and he could feel the radiation dancing across his skin. It started to seep into his bones and he could feel the burning itch that was crawling up his spine as he put one boot in front of the other. He didn’t care that all he was in was his leather pants; he didn’t care that he didn’t have a weapon. He needed to get out, to find his head and find a way to fix This, whatever This was. 

He couldn’t hear anything over the wailing wind, and his mind was calmer for it. He rubbed his arms and squinted as he watched the swirling dirt kicked up by the violent winds. Everything was tinted a sickly green, and the lightning in the distance seemed to glow yellow as the crack of thunder surrounded him. 

He could feel the crackle of radiation along his skin, worse than before. His head already hurt, that was a sure sign he was taking too many rads, but he needed space. He needed to clear his head so he could find a way to keep Kincaid safe despite his mistakes. That was all he needed, was for Caid to be safe. If he got her killed, he wasn’t sure what he’d do.

“Gage!” he heard her call from behind him. He turned to see her in the doorway of the service tunnel. She had pulled on her pants, but she still only had on her thin tank top. That was as unthinkable as going out in a blizzard in the same. He chose to come out here, but he never wanted her to follow him. She stepped out of what little safety the tunnel had with the door wide open and Gage realized she hadn’t even stopped to put on her boots.

“Boss-” he started to argue, but he wavered as he took a step towards her and faltered. There was a crack of lightning that had to be close. It was like he could see the plasma in the air as every hair on his body stood on end. Gage had to fight not to throw up as his knees buckled and his palms hit the dirt.

This was bad.

“Gage, my love, please, come back inside.” He heard it, but it didn’t make sense. It was Kincaid’s voice, but she was still back in the tunnel. She couldn’t be out here, in the thick of the storm in nothin’ but her jeans and a skimpy little tank top. He tried to force himself back on his feet, but his body wouldn’t listen. His muscles burned under his skin and drool pooled in his mouth. His lungs felt like they were seizing up; he couldn’t breathe. He tried to keep the nausea at bay, but he couldn’t when his diaphragm spasmed. When the darkness started to swirl on the edge of his vision, it was all he could do to keep from falling in his own sick. Just as he started to blackout, he felt her hands on him, heard her voice even if he couldn’t make out what she was saying. He felt himself scrape across the rocky ground and he heard the door slam behind them. He heard Kincaid growl, real deep in her chest. The sort of rumbling growl that would make any of the raiders in the parks go scrambling, knees knocking together like brahmin calves. It made Gage’s heartbeat against ribs, and as his vision blurred until all he could see was her, her face contorted in anger, rage, something... something else-

“Don’t you die you fuckin’ stubborn asshole,”

It was an order, and he always followed her orders. She was the Overboss after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gage has an emotion.


	36. Runaway Baby

Radaway was cold, like ice in his veins. It spread across his skin and soothed the pinpricks of rads that we’re sunk deep into the muscle. He laid there, expressionless on his bedroll as Kincaid stirred a pot of something near the fire aggressively. It had been a day, maybe two, Gage wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he made mistake after mistake and he couldn’t seem to stop making them. 

He’d walked out into a rad storm clad in nothing but leather pants. It had been a stupid move. A monumentally stupid move. On a list of stupid things Gage had done, it was ranked in the top five. Honestly, he was a little impressed with himself. It was like the moment he was around Kincaid his brain stopped working. It was gonna get him killed.

He could feel the anger radiating off of her, and it was so much worse because she wouldn’t say anything. She wouldn’t do more than a quick glance at him every now and again. She’d not spoken more then a word to him since he came to, and it cut him deep to the bone. She just sat there, her back to him, muttering to herself. He caught the words dumb, and stupid, and honestly, he deserved it. He deserved every goddamn minute of it. 

Still hurt though. 

He wanted to roll over, to look anywhere but her, but he was hooked up to the bag in such a way he couldn’t without ripping the iv out. And if she was mad now? That would push her over the edge. Instead, he laid there, a rock pressing into the bruise on his side through his sleeping bag and his shoulder numb from the pressure. He could feel the tears running down his face again, burning down his cheeks and his pride. It didn’t matter though, not really. While she’d got him inside and shoved Rad-X down his throat fast enough he wasn’t going to have his flesh fall off, they’d still fucked, gone soft for each other. The moment they stepped into Nuka-Town it was going to be worse than bleeding in a blood worm den. 

Raiders could smell weakness, and the two of them reeked of it now. 

She looked back at him again and he winced. That made it even worse because her eyebrows shot up and it was like he’d broke her. It was like the world shattered in her eyes and she couldn’t put it back together. She made a move to come over and he snapped his eye shut, trying to curl up and away. He heard her stop, hesitating, waiting. For what, he wasn’t sure. 

“Gage?” Her voice was low, soft. He hiccuped and frowned, scrunching his eye shut tight. He didn’t want her to touch him, to be anywhere near him. Well no, he wanted her to touch him- but it wasn’t safe. She’d be in danger and he’d end up getting her killed. He couldn’t bear that, the idea that he’d be the end of her made a cold lump of iron form in the pit of his stomach and visions of Nisha torturing her dance before his eye. He shifted and palmed at his face with his free hand. He was shaking like an addict, and he couldn’t stop it.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and he heard her settle. When he opened his eye her back was to him again, and she was staring at the fire. It hurt, it made his chest ache like he’d been stabbed. Like one of Nisha’s knives had sunk real deep into his skin and settled in.

He wanted to say something, anything. But he had no words for her. Nothing comforting, nothing that could ease her pain. God he wished he could go back, back to when he thought she was a lesbian and he could just quietly ache for her and she wouldn’t be the wiser. It was painful, but a comfortable sort of pain. It wasn’t this whirlwind of emotions. It was bad thoughts, and he could shove them down, bottle them up. Now as he watched her, illuminated in the firelight, visions of them running off together danced hand in hand with visions of both of them strung up in the market. He wished to God he hadn’t admitted anything to her, that he’d pushed her off his lap or moved away or did something. But he didn’t.

So here he was, and she’d heard him admit that he needed her. 

There was no coming back from that. 

“Gage?” He snapped his eye shut again and he heard her let out a sigh. “Gage, why can’t we just, you know, run? We could just leave, run to the Commonwealth or the Mojave or hell- we could go to Canada. I’ve heard Ronto isn’t bad this time of year, and California ain’t nothin’ to scoff at either.” As if he hadn’t wondered the same thing, hadn’t planned the same damn thing. 

But in that lay the issue. He knew for a fact Nisha wouldn’t let them go, and Mags wouldn’t take too kindly to it either. And William, oh god William would be on the war path. He never took rejection too well, but to have the boss pick Porter Fuckin’ Gage over the posh and refined William Black? The response would be violent, he’d want his pound of flesh and he would have it, one way or another. They probably wouldn’t have to worry about Mason. He would probably offer Kincaid a high five and make some smart remark, but the other three bosses? They’d be out for blood. His blood. 

And she just didn’t understand.

He should have known that was what she’d suggest. It was how she dealt with her problems. She ran from the Mojave. She’d already tried to run from Nuka-World once. But this wasn’t something they could run from, Nisha would find them, and she would kill them. Distance didn’t matter, all that mattered was Kincaid, Nisha’s knife, and how utterly fucked they were. 

He knew what the Disciple boss would do. It was burned into his eyelids and lurked like a storm cloud on the back of his mind. 

She’d start real slow, blunt force probably. She liked to use that to soften up her victims, make sure they couldn’t run. She’d string Kincaid up or maybe have Savoy hold her. She’d wear Kincaid down until the boss couldn’t struggle, then she’d get that knife. It was sharp, along the tip. Sharp as any one of Mackenzie’s scalpels. She’d start with that, cutting patterns into Kincaid’s skin, real light, just enough to scratch. Then she’d pick a place and peel, probably the tattoo, if gage let his mind go completely into the macabre. 

It was expensive, and Kincaid treasured it, so it would go first. Piece by piece until her ribs were exposed and her blood was growing cold as it ran down her legs drop by drop. Then, and only then would Nisha hit her with a stim. Enough to slow the bleeding, to wake her up so she could watch the end. Bring her back from the brink with adrenaline and stim so that the twisted little game wouldn’t end. She’d carve Kincaid’s face to pieces too, stretching her soft smile into a mockery, leaving Kincaid’s mouth nothing but a gaping hole unable to scream. She’d take her knife to Kincaid’s scalp, peeling it back so slow so that Kincaid would never be able to have the hair she prized so much. 

Gage shuddered and felt his stomach twist. More bile threatened to come up and he heard Kincaid move. His eye snapped open as Kincaid laid her hand on his shoulder. “Gage?” she sighed softly, her thumb drifting across his skin. “Talk to me, please”

“Ain’t nothin’ to talk about. I’ve said my piece,” Gage asserted, keeping his eye locked on her face. It was hell, but he deserved no less. He watched how her eyes brimmed with tears, how her mouth drew into a thin line as she scanned his face. 

“I think-“

“Don’t matter,” Gage interrupted her, looking away as the first fat tears started to run down her face. “You get caught with me and you’ll get killed, I ain’t gonna do that, not to you.” He wrapped his arm around himself, shaking his head. “Anyone else sure. But not you.”

“Gage,” Kincaid’s voice quivered and gage scrunched his eye shut. If he didn’t see her then he’d keep his resolve. Her thumb was still rubbing his shoulder, back and forth all gentle like. Every soft touch was too much and too little all at the same time. “Why can’t we leave? Mason would happily become the Overboss and he could handle everything, he could-“

“Kincaid,” Gage growled as he looked up at her. “We can’t just run from our fuckin’ problems. That’s what landed you here in the first place,” he snapped, shoving himself up from the bedroll. She didn’t shrink back this time, she just stared at him. “We’ll be followed!” Gage got in her personal space, real fuckin close. He wanted her to be afraid, to act scared just like she had before. It would validate him, make him feel as much a monster as he knew he was. She didn’t back off this time though and just stared at him with that petulant look on her face. “We’ll be gutted! Strung up!” Gage knew she could feel his hot breath on her face, but to her credit, she didn’t even flinch. “And we’ll be killed!” he finished, his voice dropping low. “Don’t matter where we go, or how far we run. They will find us.” 

She stayed silent; tears just ran down her face as Gage glared her down. 

“If you wanna go, I won’t stop you,” Gage told her, despite the fact it broke his heart in two and made his chest ache. It would be better this way. If he let her run and took the heat, she’d be ok. She wouldn’t have to deal with Nisha, with the Disciples, with anyone. She’d be free, just like she wanted. “If they got me strung up, they won’t go after you,”

“You can’t talk like that,” Kincaid said as she folded her hands in her lap. “You’d be killed.” She said it like it was the worst that could happen. She had no idea. The horrors that awaited him if she ran paled in comparison with death. 

“God willing,” Gage told her, sitting against the wall. He didn’t like the thought of it, but if it was to keep Kincaid safe, he found himself at peace with the decision. He had a good run anyways, lasting as long as he did. And he knew too, it was what he was going to get for going soft anyways. “Probably not though, not if Nisha has anything to say about it.” 

“No! That is not an option!” Gage shrank back against the bricks, surprised by her outburst. She was shaking like she couldn’t hold in all of her emotions. Kincaid shoved her palms into her eyes and shook her head. “Get it through your thick fucking skull! I ain’t fucking leaving you to die!” She snarled and looked up, her eyes intense and unblinking as she stared him down. “I ain’t giving up on you Porter, come hell or high water,”

“Then you’re gonna die!” Gage told her, narrowing his eye.

“Everyone dies!” Kincaid spat and Gage was agape. “You don’t get outta this shit alive Gage! You grow old, you regret, you die! Or you find something worth fucking dying for!” Kincaid’s hands bunched into fists and she looked down at the dirty floor. He could see the tears running down her face, fat droplets falling to the dusty asphalt below them. 

He knew what she was going to say next, but he was begging God and all the angels in heaven that she wouldn’t. He didn’t want her to admit it, not out loud, not where he could hear. It would be the final nail in the coffin, the last straw.

If she loved him, the way he loved her- he was a dead man.

“I ain’t giving up on you, Porter Gage! You’re worth dying for!”

Gage felt his heart hammering against his chest, and he could feel his face heating up like a god damn fire barrel. She loved him. She loved him and even if she didn’t say the words, she loved him like he loved her. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think. His entire brain short-circuited, and for a moment all he wanted to do was grab her face in his hands and kiss her. 

He wanted to cover her face in kisses, to press her into the sleeping bag and make love to her. He wanted to love her in every way he knew how, as gently and softly as he could manage. He wanted to play house and find a quiet place to settle down and just thrive. Not scrape by, just barely living, he wanted to be with her forever, no matter how many caps they had between them, no matter how old they got. Raiders be damned, he wanted that life with her. He needed it like a drowning man needed air, a starving man needed food. But he couldn’t, not like this, not with the threat of the gangs looming over them. He couldn’t, no matter how much he wanted to. 

“Kincaid, talk like that is what will get you killed,” the words fell out of his mouth like lead, and he regretted every single one.

But he couldn’t be happy. He was a terrible, evil man, who had spent his whole life sinning. There was no way in hell the grace of God was gonna shine on him like this, that someone good like Kincaid was going to look at him and see something worth fighting for.

“Gage,” Kincaid’s voice quivered, and he snapped into focus. “I don’t care. I don’t care if it gets me killed!” 

“Well, I fuckin do!” Gage snarled and rubbed his face, shaking his head back and forth. He pressed his palms into his eye sockets and the pressure helped. “I fucking care. I don’t want you dyin’ on account of some low life, no good-“

“Porter!” Kincaid grabbed his wrists and yanked his hands down, trying to get him to make eye contact. He refused though, the words were already tumbling out of his mouth. Every goddamn insecurity he had was bubbling up, and he was powerless to stop it. 

“Cheatin’, lyin’, manipulatin’-”

“Porter, you’re wonderful and smart and-“ She kept his hands away from his face, but he kept his eye shut. She didn’t understand. She was a god damn gift from the lord above and he wasn’t but a fuckin’ worm crawling around in shit. He didn’t deserve her, not in the slightest, not at all. It hurt him, down to his core, but he knew it was true. He felt like she was a piece of him that’d been missin’ for his whole life. He’d tasted heaven and he was afraid to be cast down to hell, even if he knew that was what he deserved.

“Foul-mouthed, shit for brains-“

“Gage! Stop!” Kincaid asserted, grabbing his chin and making him look up. He felt the tears running down his face as the words died on his tongue. God, she was beautiful, even like this, even with her hair a mess and her eyes all red and puffy. Even with snot and tears running down her face like a little kid who just skinned her knee. “Gage you’re lovely,” she told him, her hand resting against his cheek. Her thumb rubbed just under his eye socket and gage could feel his ears starting to burn. His mind screamed at him, telling him that everything she was sayin’ was wrong. But hearing it from her lips, made him want to believe it. “You’re smart and capable and knowledgeable and Jesus Christ, I swear you’re wasted on these thankless bastards,” She sounded so confident, so sure. “Without you, this park would have burned down to nothing but ashes and rotting corpses, you’re the entire reason everyone here is still alive.” She pressed her forehead to his, and he could feel how she was shaking. “And you don’t get to talk about my favorite person like that, no one gets to talk about my favorite person like that, ever.”

Favorite person? That set of words made Gage’s brain short circuit. He just stared at her until she pressed a soft, chaste little kiss to his brow. He couldn’t repress the shiver that went down his spine at the feather-light touch. He couldn’t take it, he was going to fall apart at the seams. She pulled back and looked at him, her eyes scanning over his face. He wanted to go crawl into a hole, to get away and run and never look back. It was too much, too goddamn much.

She pulled back as his stomach snarled. His guts were so twisted up he didn’t feel like he was hungry. He felt sick, like if he ate anything he’d just hurl it back up. This was worse than a migraine, worse than any recovery he’d had in Fizztop. He shook as she went over to the fire and grabbed the skillet that was tucked into the coals. It smelled like cheese, like cheese that had been slightly burnt around the edges. He looked away as she set the skillet down beside him. 

“You gotta eat something Gage. You ain’t ate in a day and a half,” Kincaid told him, scooping up a spoon of pasta and lifting it to his lips. He turned away from her and she sighed, shaking her head. “Gage, please.”

“I ain’t about to be mollycoddled, boss. I’m a grown fucking adult,” he said quietly, and she let out a soft little huff before setting the spoon back into the skillet. She waited for him to take it, and Gage had half a mind to refuse. But he knew he couldn’t he wouldn’t be able to say no. And god, now that the food was closer his stomach was giving him a complete list of reasons why it hated him. He let out a grumble and grabbed the pan, pulling it closer and shoveling pasta into his mouth. Kincaid seemed pleased enough, and she sat back on her calves and watched him.

“You are a good man, Gage.” She didn’t know that. She thought that, but she didn’t know the things he’d done. He had been a raider for over twenty years, and you don’t survive that long by being a kind man. He shook his head with a grunt, but she continued. “You’re smart and competent and the sharpest tactician I know. You pick things up so quickly, and you can apply them just as fast.” She leaned against his shoulder and he looked down at her. “I think the world of you, Porter,” her voice was quiet, only just a whisper. She looked up at him and tilted her head. “And,” she paused, seeming to think about her words. He swallowed down another mouthful of pasta and stayed silent, waiting for her. “And I want to be with you, for as long as you’ll have me.”

They sat like that, for a while. And Gage cherished the feeling of her against his side as his brain started to calm down. He was starting to be able to think rationally again and he didn’t like the situation at all. There was no way this would turn out good, that it wouldn’t blow up in their faces.

He didn’t want to hurt her, but it was the truth. An ugly truth, that made his stomach churn and was going to make her weep. He wasn’t sure he could take that, watching her cry over him.It would hurt more than any knife, any bullet he ever took. But it was the truth. And the truth hurt. 

“I want to Caid. God do I want to.” Gage put his hand over his mouth and he couldn’t repress the shiver that went through him. He was trying not to cry again. His meager pride could only take so much. “But we can’t. Not if we both wanna keep breathing.”

She hummed in response and he looked at her. She was playing with her nails, picking at the quick. “We could, just...” she trailed off. She was going to suggest running again. He knew it; he could feel it in his bones. They couldn’t run, he needed her to understand that. He needed her to get it through her thick metal-bone head. He could feel the anger welling up in his guts. It was like she was being purposely obtuse. She did this, and every single fuckin’ time Gage just wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her until she was absolutely dizzy. 

She drove him insane, right up the fucking wall. She was going to end up killing him and he was pissed off that he was ok with that. He shook his head as she opened her mouth. He knew what she was going to say, he knew full well. She was going to suggest running off again, Ronto, Two Sun, anywhere. She was going to suggest going into hiding, keeping far from the bosses and living out the rest of their lives like they’d never played raider. It didn’t work that way, it never fuckin’ worked that way. Shit always came back to bite him on the ass. He never got to be happy, he never-

“Keep it a secret.” She looked up at him and his anger fizzled out. It fizzled out like a campfire fizzled under a bucket of water. He was just left cold, cold down to his bones. He stared at Kincaid, who was looking up at him all innocent-like. She batted her eyelashes at him like she hadn’t suggested pulling one over on the bosses, and Gage just sat there dumbstruck.

It was an option. 

He wasn’t sure he liked the option, but he didn’t think he’d like any options in front of them. Kincaid was watching his every move, trying to gauge his reaction. He looked away from her before making a quiet noncommittal noise. Kincaid crawled into his lap and Gage froze up. She grabbed his face, a hand on each of his cheeks. She made him look at her, albeit gently. “We could keep it secret, safe, just the two of us. In front of everyone we’re business partners, but in Fizztop?” Her eyes were wild, so full of hope and optimism. Like the bosses wouldn’t sniff them out like they wouldn’t get caught. “In Fizztop we could be free, just you, just me, free to be together, to be ourselves,” Kincaid tilted her head, and Gage was distracted by how her thumb was tracing the edge of his ruined eye socket. “It would be grand, a secret garden, all our own, the moment the doors lock, the elevator turns off. You, me, and us. Together.”

He was tempted, sorely, sorely tempted. It could be perfect; it could be everything he’d ever wanted. It could have been the two of them, ruling the god damn world together. They’d have the dream, the caps, the power. No one could touch them if they could keep it a secret. 

If. 

It was a big if. 

But it could work. And god he wanted it. He wanted it with every goddamn fiber of his being. It would be kinda like playing house, just, quietly. It would be in the privacy of Fizztop, and no one could know. Not Russell, not Mason, not Mackenzie. No one. If anyone found them out, if anyone walked in on their little slice of paradise, the whole world would come crashing down. It would fall faster than bricks tossed off a barn... but...

It could work. 

Gage stared up at Kincaid and his heart ached. He stood on a precipice, over the abyss. If he took this offer, if he tried this with her, it would change everything. He was used to having to please the boss of whatever gang he was in at the time, but this wasn’t the boss just searching for gratification. This would be the two of them on equal ground. They’d be partners in every way, equal in every way. 

He’d never had that before. 

What did he have to lose? He’d already decided that he’d go to the ends of the earth for Kincaid, not because she was the boss, but just because she was her. He’d take a bullet for her, without even thinking twice. All he had left was his pride, and her. He was fine with losing his pride if it meant being with her. But losing her? It made his blood freeze up like ice water, made him quiver under her. The idea of Nisha, of the bosses, they were bad thoughts and he was powerless against them as they wormed into his skull and settled in like bloodworms. 

She was still watching him, watching as he worked through everything in his head as he tried to figure something, anything out. The silence was deafening. It was like she wasn’t even breathing, awaiting his answer. He stared up at her, and he knew, deep in his bones he could never tell her no, not really. But he wasn’t ready, not yet, and he wasn’t sure when he would be. 

“Gage?” Kincaid asked softly, and he looked away from her again. He felt her sag, and from his peripheral vision, he could see her wrap her arms around her chest. She wilted like a cut flower and Gage sucked in a breath. If he looked at her, he’d say yes, no hesitation. 

“Boss,” he drawled, and he knew she wasn’t going to be happy with him despite how she perked up. She’d said he was worth dyin’ for, but Porter Gage never trusted words. Especially when the words were the exact thing he wanted to hear. If they did this, if they went through with this, They’d both be in danger, more danger then they’d likely have been in for their entire lives. And honestly, that was a feat if Gage thought about it. Best not think about it. 

“You don’t want this, you don’t want nothin’ to do with me, not with the fucked up life I’ve lived, the people I’ve killed. You’re good, gentle, kind. I ain’t. I ain’t no good man.” Gage rested his hands on her thighs and god they were just as soft as before. He ran his thumb over her jeans, enjoying the feeling of the muscle under his hands. 

“Oh, my pigheaded stubborn raider.” Kincaid sighed, so low that if she hadn’t been as close as she was he’d have never heard it. He looked back at her and she pressed a kiss to his brow. “Haven’t you thought about it? How well we work together, how well we live together?” Kincaid asked, leaning forward and pressing their foreheads together again. He stared into her unblinking eyes, holding his breath. “I’ve never had nothin’ like this before Porter, and I don’t wanna lose it,” she told him, her thumb ghosting across his cheek and making him shiver. “I don’t wanna lose you, and I know you feel the same way. You said it yourself you need-”

“I know what I said.” Gage asserted with a growl. He’d admitted it and it wasn’t her fault, but he did want to keep what little pride he still had. She just laughed softly, and it hurt him, like a knife between his ribs. “It’s not funny,” he grumbled, looking away. “You need to listen, Caid. This ain’t no joke, this ain’t haha funny. This is the difference between getting our skin peeled off and the Disciples using our intestines to play skip rope-” her face contorted in disgust. Good. let her be disgusted, maybe the reason he was so scared would get through her god damn thick skull. “And the two of us ruling the goddamn wasteland. You get what I’m sayin’, Caid?” 

She hummed and he took it as a sign to continue. “You said you don’t wanna lose me, well guess what,” Gage pushed her back, holding her at an arm’s distance. His hands were tight against her biceps, keeping her upright even as she sat back against his thighs. She tilted her head and he had to look away again. She was scanning over him, trying to figure him out. He could see her mind at work, it played over her features like music over the radio. “We do this and Nisha is gonna kill me,”

“She ain’t-”

“I ain’t finished!” Gage snapped, looking back at Kincaid. She shrank back slightly and just watched him. That hurt, that hurt deep in his bones but at least he had her attention. “Nisha ain’t the only one who’s gonna have problems if we’re found out. You think William is gonna take too kindly to finding out you turned him down only to shack up with me?” Gage asked her with a sneer. “You think he’s gonna take that sitting down?” 

“That’s why we keep it secret!” Kincaid told him, peeling his hands off her arms. He let them drop and let out a sigh. She didn’t understand, she’d probably never understand the gravity of the situation. She had no idea how shit worked, how this was going to end up. She couldn’t have her cake and eat it too. Something had to give, something was going to give.

He was on the precipice of the abyss. And Jesus Christ he was going to fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus christ these two are a fucking mess ain't they?


	37. Take What's Mine

She had perched upon his thighs and looked down at him and smiled oh so soft. “We can keep it secret,” she had whispered like it was some schoolyard rumor. 

He felt like he was poised over the abyss and that he was going to fall into nothingness. Visions of their demise assaulted him relentlessly, of her face peeled back and her eyes and mouth wide in terror. He knew all the things Nisha would do, how she would make them suffer. So when she leaned in to kiss him he gently held her back. 

God, how she looked at him hurt. It hurt so badly. But it was better right?

They spent that night in mostly silence, and the next day too. And when the weather cleared the walk back to Fizztop was also silent. His brain was going a million miles an hour as they hobbled into the Grille. She looked fresh like they hadn’t just squatted in a service tunnel for four days. 

Himself? He could feel the eyes on him, on the wounds that were wrapped in old bandages that should have been changed days ago, on the blood that was soaked into his clothing. He was sure he looked half-dead compared to her. 

That night in Fizztop, he shoveled dinner into his mouth as she sat across from him, still quiet. Silent, even. She fidgeted in her seat as she watched him eat, wringing her hands and bouncing her leg. The silence between them was anything but comfortable for either of them, but it was important. It was important to keep her safe and secure. 

Though, he wasn’t going to fault her if she up and left in the night. He expected it honestly. If she had been staying only because of some misguided loyalty to him then it was over, gone. If she left he was going to cherish their brief night together for the rest of his days, even if those days were numbered. He loved her, but he couldn’t say it, he couldn’t force it out. He poked at the food on his plate and heard her fuss. He looked up and saw her palm at her eyes. 

“Gage?” her voice cracked as she looked up. He could see the tears welling up in her eyes. “Gage, please talk to me.” Her voice hitched at the end and his heart broke in two. 

He hummed and she tilted her head, her eyes darting away from his face. “Gage, I’m sorry. I should have listened the first time you said no.” Oh god, she was going to cry. He could see it, welling up in her eyes. He wanted to reach across the table and pull her into his arms. But he didn’t. He sat there, fork in hand, watching as she broke down. 

“Don’t apologize-” Gage spoke, but she put a hand up. He snapped his mouth shut and she sucked in a breath. She stood up, her hands flat against the table. 

“No, I am sorry. I should have listened,” she told him, pushing her hair back. “I’m going to give you your space. Mackenzie will be over in the morning to check over those wounds and resupply us for Safari,” she rubbed the back of her neck and Gage just watched her. For once, he was the one who wasn’t moving, and she was the one who lost her cool. “I’m not going to leave in the middle of the night. I’m not going to leave you to die. You don’t have to worry about that.” Kincaid sucked in a breath. He could see her arms trembling, and he could see her hands shake when she pulled away from the table. 

She looked over his face and bit her lip. 

“I love you. And it’s ok if you aren’t ready.” She choked down a sob and rubbed her face. “Or...” Gage felt like his heart stopped in his chest, he just watched in stunned silence as she rallied herself. “If you don’t feel the same way,” Kincaid rubbed her arms and her eyes darted around the room. “But my bed is open if you want it. It will be secret. I won’t tell anyone. It’ll be just you, and me.”

Gage felt like he’d been punched in the gut. He couldn’t breathe. He just stared up at her, pasta falling off of his fork. She watched his reaction and seemed to draw her own conclusion. She sucked in a deep breath and straightened out her shirt. “Goodnight. I’ll see you in the morning.” She turned and walked out of the Grille. 

Gage just stared after her, his eye wide. He dropped his fork and it clattered against his plate. He stood up, fully intending to go after her. But he froze in place. She’d admitted it before, but she’d flat out said it now. She’d said ‘I love you’ but she had also told him that it was ok if he didn’t act on it. She gave him an out. She gave him what he so desperately wanted, but hated to have. He didn’t know what to do, but it was entirely up to him. If he wanted something, he had to take it, and mean it. He was terrified. He sat down in the chair and stared at the table. 

His brain went ‘round and ‘round, spinning in well-trod circles. Nisha, William, Mason, Mags, all of the variables played in his head, over and over. But the longer he sat there in his chair and stared at his half-eaten plate of mac and cheese, the more restless he got. His brain took the carefully laid out game ahead of him and knocked all the pieces to the metaphorical floor. He wanted to get up, to charge into the patio and claim Kincaid as his.

But he knew better. He didn’t just spend the better part of a week stewing over every possible bad possibility to just charge in like a stupid fool who was going to get himself killed. His head fell into his hands and he ran his fingers through the stubble along the sides of his head. He sucked in measured breaths and counted back from ten. 

If she hadn’t proclaimed herself a lesbian it would have been so much easier. If she hadn’t embarrassed William, if he’d been paying attention instead of being stabbed by Dixie, then this wouldn’t be a problem. But it was now. And it was his problem. 

Before that point, if they’d gotten caught fucking around they could have written it off as the boss just getting her rocks off, purely casual, just fuckin’ around like raiders do. It still would have given Nisha an in, but as far as everyone else was concerned it would have been normal. It happened, it was a natural part of the raider lifestyle. He got Colter off, he’d gotten his other bosses off too. Hell, he’d even gotten into deep relations with Connor back when he was young and stupid. 

Old advice given by an even older raider wormed its way back into his brain. Back from his time in The Gulf. She was an old lanky thing, smoked her cigs on a long stick. She’d been around for a very long time, longer then any human ‘oughta be. She sucked in a real long drag and looked his scrawny little ass over. 

“You listen good, Porter, there are gonna be times in your life where you get real attached.” The smoke flowed out her nose, and she blew it away from him. He was an angry little thing, the sting of Connor’s betrayal ran deep even months after. He wasn’t proud of it, it was just a fact of life. “Don’t let it go to your head. Think rational about it. If you think you’ve found something worth keeping hold onto it, but nine times outta ten?” The old raider took a drag, her thin eyebrow arched. “It ain’t worth shit. You gotta protect your own ass first. But you learned that didn’t you?”

He remembered looking up at the old Raider, eye wide as she reached over and tapped the side of his head. “You lost an eye over it once. Don’t forget it.” Her thin lips pulled over her teeth and Gage remembered the chill that ran up his spine. “Or you may lose the other one.” And the old raider laughed and laughed and laughed. 

It stuck with him. It stuck with him when he fooled around to ease his broken heart. It stuck with him when he would get into a fight with someone he cared about, and it stuck with him the first time Colter hit him after they took Nuka-Town. 

Most of the time, Gage would just leave. Just up and go so that he didn’t have to deal with the aftermath of whatever newest clusterfuck had decided to go off around him. But Nuka-World was different. He wanted it, he wanted to hold onto it despite everything. He suffered Colter for it, he suffered Nisha for it, and by God, no one was going to take it away from him.

On the other hand, he loved Kincaid. Even if the words got stuck in his throat and didn’t want to come out, the pure and simple fact was that he loved her. He loved her and he wanted to hold on to her, forever. In one hand, he had the parks, Nuka-World, a goddamn empire. On the other? He had Kincaid, and how he wanted her. Well, he has two hands, he s’posed.

He wanted her every soft moment. He wanted her hands on his arms and her lips against his brow. He wanted her to sit in his lap and chatter at him about nothing and everything as he just watched her. He wanted to run his hands up the scars that littered her flesh, to soothe away old aches and pains. He wanted her to be his, in every way possible. He wanted to hear her sing and watch her dance, he wanted to gaze at all of the sunsets and sunrises, to watch all of the dancing laundries. He wanted all of it. He wanted to play fucking house with her, and raiders did not play house. They killed, pillaged, looted. They did not play house. They did not settle down and start a family. They were the goddamn boogeymen who ruined the lives of people who chose that. 

If he chose to play house, he could very well end up on the wrong end of the gun. He’d end up shot dead in the dirt, bleeding out and reaching for something he never should have had. 

But he wanted it.

He shot up out of his chair, stomping his way towards the door. His hand hovered over the doorknob, and his stomach twisted right up. He pulled back and paced over towards his bed. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t just go into there and crawl into her bed, into the Boss’ bed. Raiders did not do shit like that. It was soft! It was-

It was everything he wanted. Gage ran his hands over his head and looked back over his shoulder at the double doors. He stomped his way back over but paused once again as his hand hovered over the door. 

“Come on Porter,” Gage growled lowly before groaning and turning away and pacing around the room. Walking helped his racing brain as it went through every scenario, of Nisha and other raiders. On the other hand, it was a very raider thing to take what you wanted, when you wanted it. He pinched the bridge of his nose and flopped down into his armchair. He glared at the wooden doors like they were at fault for his predicament. “You ain’t gone soft. Ain’t no one gonna say you’ve gone soft. It’s natural,” he grumbled to himself, pulling his hand down his face. And there was weight to that argument. It was natural, people sought each other out for comfort all the time. Hell, this wasn’t his first rodeo. It wasn’t like he was some spring chicken, he was in his forties now, and he’d been around long enough to know.

He’d even fancied himself in love, once or twice. He’d even thought that they might’ve loved him back.

He sure didn’t deserve it, didn’t change that some people just had shit taste. 

Kincaid had shit taste. 

Like honestly, Kincaid had really terrible taste. How could she want someone like him? She could have anyone in the parks, Mason, Mags, anyone. Hell if she got with Mags it wouldn’t even be an insult to William. She could have anyone. Why him? He had no idea and it bothered him. It was one more fuckin’ variable that sent his thoughts in a whirl, that made his brain throw the metaphorical chessboard across the room. 

Gage stretched his legs out and sank deeper into the ratty cushions. He kept his eye locked on the far door, a growl bubbling up out of his chest. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like his thoughts racing like this and they’d been racing for the better part of the last six months. Because of Kincaid. Because of Kincaid and her shit taste and how she teased and teased and teased. 

And now he couldn’t see what she did as anything else. Knowing now that she wasn’t a lesbian, that she was interested too and he was too dense to see it? It made him mad, mostly at himself. He should have known. He should have seen it, but he was too busy terrified of Nisha in every corner. He’d tortured himself for so long, so goddamn long. 

“Can you zip this for me, Porter?”

He shivered and stood up. His knuckles burned where they had brushed against her skin so long ago. It started a chain reaction too, all the sudden his brain was flooded with soft moments, gentle, quiet moments, of bandaged wounds, zipped dresses, panties being pulled away. He covered his mouth and felt his entire face heat up like a fresh fire barrel. He could feel his ears burning as he paced around the Grille. All he could see was her. 

The sight of Kincaid lounged back on her ugly red couch, her revolver in hand as she smiled at insolent emissaries. The memory of her lifting that Pack Animal and hauling him over the edge of the patio. How she so easily swaggered up to Mason and put him in his place, or how she walked into Nisha’s den with no fear. 

Gage pulled one of the table chairs out and sat back down. He stared at the tile under his feet but he didn’t really see the patterns. In his mind, he saw Kincaid, her hands on him oh so gentle. With hands that broke bones and ripped flesh with ease, she was far more gentle than he deserved. Her thumb drifted oh so kindly over his lower lip. And god, the way she ran her fingers over the scarred over remains of his eye socket. She skirted that line of too much and too little. 

He wanted her. He wanted her so badly. 

“You’ve gone fuckin’ soft, Porter Gage.” Gage sighed as he pulled his hand down his face. He looked back up at the doors, his brows knit together. He was on the precipice of the abyss, and he found himself surprisingly ok with falling. He was tired, fucking god damn exhausted. He ached, deep in his bones from how much he’d run himself ragged in the last few months. He could have everything, and who would turn down a warm bed and a kind hand? Was it so bad to seek out comfort he hadn’t had for so long? Could anyone really fault him for wanting something more?

He pushed himself up, moving slower and more deliberate. He hurt, his muscles ached and all he wanted to do was sink into a bed and sleep for the next week. It would have been easier, closer, to sink into his own bed. But he found himself pushing open the doors to the patio, stepping into the dim candlelight Kincaid kept. 

That was the moment he heard it. Gentle sobs, little hitches in her breath. She was crying. She was crying over him. He felt his heart break and it took every single fiber of his will power not to go charging in, stomping over and trying to fix it. He knew what was wrong, there was no fixing it with a bullet or a snarl. These were feelings and shit, and lord knows he was no good at feelings. He walked softly, rounding the corner. She wasn’t in the main room, so she must have been in her little sectioned off bedroom. She was still crying, and he could hear her talking to someone. 

“How could you be that stupid.” His mouth pulled into a thin line as he listened. It took him a second to realize Kincaid was talking to herself. “You went and forced him into it and now look.” She let out a shaky little sob and sucked in a breath. “Look at what you did, you hurt him, you’ve hurt him over and over and over and you’re so goddamn stupid,” her voice hitched and Gage paused just off the steps to her little sanctuary. “God, you ruin everything. Just like fuckin’ always. This is why you can’t have nice things Caid, this is why. Because you’re so god damn-”

“Boss?” Gage asked quietly, he couldn’t bear to hear her talk to herself like that. That hurt, deep in his guts, more than anything she could’ve said or done to him. She let out a little yelp he could hear her scramble and a glass break. Gage pulled aside the curtain and stepped into the dark little room.

It was illuminated by bottles filled with glowing liquids, splashing different colors across the fabric walls. Kincaid was in the center, on her bed. She had her knees pulled up to her chest under one of his shirts, her face all splotchy and her hair pulled back in a messy bun. Her eyes were locked on him, unblinking and seeming to almost glow. He paused and rubbed his neck, looking away. He felt like he was invading her space, her little sanctuary.

“Maybe now ain’t the best time, maybe I uh-” Gage took a step back and Kincaid’s brows went up. “Maybe I oughta go,”

“Please stay.” Kincaid hiccuped, and for once he saw her blink. “Please don’t go, Porter, please,” Kincaid whispered, her fingers were wrapped around a bottle of whiskey and Gage could see where she’d dropped her glass off the side of the bed when he startled her. Gage watched her, and he felt his exhaustion creeping up him again. He didn’t care much for the booze, but it didn’t matter. He just wanted to be here with her. He swallowed down his fear and took a step forward, towards her bed. He stopped at the foot of it, and he felt himself freezing up.

“I, uh,” Gage started just as Kincaid tried to say something too. 

“You first,” she said, and Gage tried to argue but she took a long sip of whiskey that said she needed to hear what he had to say.

“I ain’t hurt by what ya did,” he started. It felt weird, addressing the things she’d said when she thought she was alone, but she needed this. It hadn’t even occurred to him that she could be as fragile as he felt right now. “I wanted it, and I liked it. I just-” He paused. He was sick of doing that to her, but the words were too hard to say aloud. He wanted to tell her everything, how he felt. He needed to be honest with her, and yet the words stayed stuck in his throat. He couldn’t even force himself to say it. “I just ain’t never cared about anyone like this before,” he said quickly. It was certainly true, but it wasn’t the whole truth. That would have to wait.

“Gage, you can’t tell me you’ve never been in l-” Kincaid started.

“It’s different,” he said. He tried to cut her off before she could finish. He didn’t even want to hear where she was going with it. He knew it, and apparently, she knew it, but he just couldn’t bring himself to say it. “The others were bosses that took advantage of expectations or flings that didn’t last. With you it, it’s just different.”

She was staring at him, completely silent. She looked away for a moment, seeming to think as her brows pinched together. She looked back at him and held out the bottle of whiskey. Gage let his shoulders relax and a chuckle bubbled up as he reached over and took the bottle. She watched as he set it on one of her little end tables before rounding the side of the bed that didn’t have broken glass. He’d clean that up in the morning, right now all he wanted to do was sleep. He sat on the edge and pulled off his boots, and he felt her come up behind him and press her cheek to his back. 

“Thank you,” she whispered, and he felt it go up along his spine like sparks. He swallowed nervously and turned. She stared up at him, and a smile pulled at her lips. He looked away for a moment and weighed an idea that crept into his brain. It was impulsive, but god he wanted to act on it. And honestly, he’d already gone farther, what was one more step?

He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips, and her eyes shot wide open. He could feel her mouth pull into a smile as she grabbed both of his cheeks and kissed him back. He let out a surprised little grunt as she mashed her face into his enthusiastically. She wasn’t so good at kissing either, and that comforted Gage, just a little bit. He pulled back with a little gasp and she pulled him into a hug, her arms tight around his neck and shoulders. 

“Ok, ok, that’s it. We ain’t going any farther than that tonight.” Gage told her as she pressed sloppy kisses to his cheek. She giggled into his skin and he felt his face heat up. “You ain’t in any condition for it and I’m bone tired.” Gage sighed as he wrapped his arms around her. She had all but crawled into his lap, and he was surprised how right it felt. He shifted, taking her with him as he pulled the covers up around them. He leaned back into her pillows and she curled up into his side. She was humming, tracing patterns along his tank top with her fingers. 

They laid there for a while, and Gage let himself start to drift off. “Boss?”

“Caid,” she corrected, and Gage made a face.

“Did you happen to turn off the elevator?” he asked, and she hummed. 

“I think so.” she hummed, and Gage pushed himself up. She whined and grabbed for him as he swung his legs over the edge. 

“I’ll be right back.” He felt like he should reassure her of it like he was afraid that she would be afraid of him just leaving. “Just gonna check.” he padded out of her little room despite the fussy noises that she was making. He made his way over to the controls and low and behold, she’d forgotten. He unplugged everything like clockwork, and when he was sure the patio was secure he made his way back over to her bed. He pulled aside the curtain and found she was laying exactly where he left her, her eyes closed and her breathing even.

He tried to be very quiet as he crawled back into bed, careful not to disturb her. He shifted until he was comfortable and covered by the blankets. Kincaid reached for him, pulling herself close to his chest. He froze for a moment as she hummed and wrapped her legs around one of his, shifting until she was comfortable. When she went still he relaxed and draped his arm over her.

It felt right, it felt good.

When the morning light started to seep in through the windows he found himself on his stomach, Kincaid tucked into his side. One of his arms hung off the side of the bed, knuckles against the floor. The other was wrapped around Kincaid, who was snoring softly and drooling into the crook of his neck. Gage blinked once, then twice. 

“Boss! Boss the elevator ain’t working!” he heard someone calling, and Gage shoved himself out of Kincaid’s bed. Kincaid made a noise and Gage shoved his feet into his boots. He looked around for his eyepatch, panicking until he felt his face and realized he’d slept with it on. Fuck. that was ok though, what mattered is it sounded like Mackenzie was down at the elevator and she was going to go inside if he didn’t move fast. He looked over at Kincaid, who was murmuring into the pillow and trying to grab for him. 

He felt his face start to flush, and all he wanted to do was watch her. But then Mackenzie called up again. “Boss you got about a minute before I go inside. And you know Gage ain’t gonna like that,” Gage stomped out of Kincaid’s room and went to the edge of the patio, carefully leaning over the fencing. 

 

“Boss is still in bed, come back later!” he snarled, and he saw Mac put her hands on her hips. 

“Ain’t gonna happen. Gotta check the both of you over after that rad storm, Boss’ orders.” Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Gage narrowed his eye at the doctor and considered just locking the doors. Didn’t matter if she took the stairs if the doors were locked. 

“Let her up Gage, she’s gotta do her thing.” He heard from Kincaid’s little room. She sounded so tired and honestly all he wanted to do was crawl back into bed. He groaned and went over to the elevator, fiddling with it until the power was running. The moment it was the lift descended and Gage grumbled as he went over to the kitchenette.

He pulled some meat out and shoved it in his mouth, chewing as he perused anything else that looked appetizing before Mackenzie came up and ruined his entire morning. He shoved a hunk of cheese into his mouth too and pulled out a can of cold water. He closed the mini-fridge and leaned against the counter, pulling off his patch and rubbing the scars as he sipped. Kincaid came out, her hair a mess and obviously hungover. She stumbled over to the kitchenette as Mackenzie was pulled up to the patio. 

“Mornin’ boss,” Mackenzie said, walking over to the bar and setting down her bag. Kincaid sleepily greeted her before reaching across the counter, making grabby hands at the can of water Gage was drinking. 

“Get your own,” Gage grumbled as he pulled away, and Kincaid fussed loudly. This felt good. It felt like everything was back to normal. He pulled a quantum out of the fridge and handed it to her, and then took it away when she tried to pop the cap off with her teeth. Jesus Christ, that’s how she’d end up with a mouth as broken as his. He popped the cap off via the counter and handed it back, and she made the most disgustingly adorable happy noise he’d heard her make.

“Thank you, Gage,” she mumbled sleepily with a dopey smile, and Gage’s heart fluttered in his chest. He watched Mackenzie roll her eyes, but he didn’t care.

“Alright, let’s get this over with. Something tells me this is going to be a headache and a half. Who’s first?” Mackenzie said. A week, or even a day, ago, Gage would have had a whole lot of problems with her talking to them like that, but after a night like that with Kincaid, he just couldn’t bring himself to care about something so minor.

“Porter should go first,” Kincaid said. “He got more exposure than I did. I gave him some Radaway already, but I’m still worried, especially after the Gatorclaw.”

“Yes, I saw that on the list of injuries Sierra sent with the returning Pack,” Mackenzie said. She already started to dig through her bag for her instruments and Gage just sighed and sat still for her while she worked. She’d take measurements and write things down, but she knew better than to try to explain to him what was wrong until the end. Most of the science went over his head and even the numbers didn’t make sense, and numbers usually made sense to him. She gave a couple of exasperated sighs here and there, but that was pretty normal. 

He tried not to get too annoyed while Mackenzie poked and prodded. It helped that he could smell the breakfast Kincaid had started for them. His stomach growled and Mackenzie paused. “How long has it been since you ate?” she asked, and Gage looked over his shoulder. 

“Uh, last night before bed,” Gage told her, and she nodded. 

“Surprising,” Mackenzie muttered, and Gage’s brows furrowed. He wasn’t sure how to take that, so he glared at the floor as she went back to the stitches across his back. “Its good to hear you’re taking care of yourself.” She sighed, and that made Gage look back again.

“Well it’s not the worst I’ve ever seen you, but you’re not in good shape, Gage. This is exactly what I was concerned would happen if you went off to one of the parks with Kincaid,” Mackenzie said. “You weren’t back to normal after Dry Rock yet, and now I’m worried you have a couple of bruised ribs. They don’t look broken, which is a good sign, but you can’t go on like this. It’s like you want to end up in an early grave.”

“Ain’t exactly early,” Gage said, but the doctor just ignored him. None of this mattered anyway. When Mackenzie was gone, he and Kincaid could go where they pleased like they always did. She couldn’t actually stop him from going.

“Well, go on and have breakfast with Kincaid,” she said. “I’ll give the boss her check over after.”

Gage nodded and went over to one of the stools by the kitchenette. Kincaid set a mug of coffee in front of him with the brahmin milk already added in.

“Sounds like you got off lucky,” Kincaid said while she fiddled around with the small stovetop. “I was so worried you broke something when that gatorclaw fell on you.”

“Yeah, it sounds like we can head back to Safari whenever you’re ready,” Gage said. He took a sip of his coffee and just let himself relax for a bit.

“Um, actually, I, uh,” Kincaid said. He looked up at her. She wasn’t normally the type to stumble over her words like that.

“What? You want to wait a day or two before we go back?”

She looked down and he watched her make a face. He narrowed his eye and she looked up, towards the ceiling. She was going to say something and he knew he wasn’t going to like it. He turned back to Mackenzie and the doctor was pointedly not looking at the two of them. His blood started to run cold, a cold lump of iron forming in his stomach. He looked back at Kincaid and she looked away like a dog that had done something wrong. 

“Gage,” she paused again like she was nervous. Kincaid was almost never nervous.

No. No. No. No. No. No. he knew where this was going, he knew it. His knuckles went white against the handle of the mug as his stomach churned. Kincaid sucked in a breath and she put her hands on the counter, looking him in the eye. She bit her lip and steeled herself, and Gage felt his whole world narrow down onto her. 

“You’re not going with me back to Safari Adventure.”


	38. Bad Karma

Gage threw the box across the room, contents be damned. It hit one of the walls and exploded into a spray of soft fabrics. He stared at it and snarled, upending a chair. Mackenzie and Kincaid were on the patio, talking in hushed whispers and making plans. He didn’t care. He didn’t care in the slightest. He’d just opened up to her and she turns around and does this to him? Why’d he even fucking bother in the first place? They were supposed to be partners, equals, and now she was benching him because some stupid trader decided he was working too hard. He didn’t even get benched when Colter beat him within an inch of his life. 

Raiders that got benched were useless. At best, they'd lose their share, and worst they're shot. He’d gone through this before and it felt so much like Kincaid did this on purpose. He knew she didn’t, but it felt like she was gonna leave him behind because this was supposed to be his fucking death sentence for all his failures. 

Gage grabbed one of the chairs from the table and smashed it into the wall, working out his rage on the wood while he imagined hitting Mackenzie over the head over it. He smashed the chair to splinters, and fuck if he didn’t feel any better. He just stood there, shaking with two pieces of wood in a white knuckle grip.

He threw the wood at the wall and paced around the room, snarling and growling to himself as he promised a thousand things he’d do to the plucky little doctor. They were all white lies, he knew this, Kincaid wouldn’t want him to hurt her. But they made him feel better as he upended one of the end tables, scattering old papers and pens. He kicked the wood before bringing his foot down on the legs and breaking the thing apart. 

He could feel his chest tightening up, and it was getting harder to breathe. He kicked the ruined wood away and went to go sit in his chair at the dinner table.

Except, he’d just smashed it against the wall. 

Gage stared at the empty spot and his mouth pulled into a grim line. This was fine. It was all fine. Wasn’t like the moment the boss left Fizztop he was going to get shanked by a Disciple upstart. Not at all. Wasn’t going to happen. He was still angry, more than he'd ever been at Kincaid, but he'd gone too far in his rage and now he was just tired. It was hard to be angry and tired at the same time, but somehow he managed.

He sat down on the tile and pulled his legs up to his chest. He glared at the wall, his brain running a mile a minute. There was no way he was going to stay in Fizztop. Mackenzie couldn’t stop him, and neither could Kincaid. If he had to wait a few hours and then trail the caravan back to Safari he would. What would Kincaid do if he just showed up? Send him back? Good luck with that. 

But on the other hand, if he openly disobeyed the boss then he was going to cause problems down the line. If he didn’t set the example, then anyone who saw would take that as a sign of weakness from Kincaid. And Nisha would latch onto that faster than a leech to man wading barefoot in the river. 

Jesus Christ, they were fucked.

He ran his hand through the sparse hair on his head and let out a deep sigh. Kincaid had no idea what she was doing. She was condemning him to death by leaving him here. The moment she left, Nisha’s crew would creep in through the cracks. He might be useful enough to live, but god he was going to regret it if he was. 

He pressed his forehead to his knees and let out a quiet huff.

“You ok, babe?” Kincaid’s voice filtered over the air, and Gage let out a deep growl. He glared ahead and Kincaid padded over, her bare feet silent on the tile. He looked up at her as she surveyed the damage, her eyes wide. “What happened to your-”

“Don’t wanna talk,” Gage snarled and looked away from Kincaid. She closed her mouth and sat down beside him. She leaned against his shoulder, but he was too fired up for that. He shrugged her off and she made a sad little noise as she righted herself. They sat like that, quiet for a while, and Gage finally couldn’t hold it in any longer. He turned to Kincaid and she tilted her head like she had no idea why he’d be so fuckin’ pissed off. It pissed him off all the more that it looked like she had no idea why he’d be hurt by being benched.

“You know you just condemned me to die right?” The shock on her face didn’t surprise him, so he kept going without skipping a beat. “The Disciples are going to get in here and kill me while you’re gone.” 

“Nisha wouldn’t d-”

“You think Nisha cares?” Gage asked, narrowing his eye. “You think she’d own up to it? No. You’re gonna come back to find me dead on the floor with a knife in my gut and you’ll never have a lick of proof who did it.” She frowned at him, but that was good. Kincaid might even believe him after this outburst. “Hell, if they’re creative, they’d make it look like a suicide and-”

“Gage, stop.” Kincaid sighed, rubbing her face. “I’m going to let Mason post Pack guards in the Grille. You’ll be safe I promise.” Gage looked away from her and let out a rumble. He shook his head and sarcastic laughter started to bubble out of him in sheer disbelief. She jumped slightly as his shoulders shook. It was hopeless, she was so hopeless sometimes. 

There was no way in hell Pack could stop Disciple assassins. The shifty bastards had proven time and time again they were like smoke in the wind. There was a good god damn reason Gage selected the Disciples over other gangs in the first place. He coulda approached the Forged or The Rust Devils, but no, he selected Nisha and her goons. He selected her because they were good at killing, and even better at getting into places they weren’t supposed to be. Gage pulled his hand down his face and let out a sigh. 

“You think Pack animals are gonna stop them? You think whatever guard Mason sets up will know the mountain like the Disciples do?” Gage asked, looking at Kincaid with a half sneer. She stared at him and he laughed again, but it turned into a bit of a sob at the end and quite frankly that shook Gage a little bit. He could feel the fear up his spine, crawling around like worms. “Next time you see me I-” 

“Porter!” Kincaid snapped and he looked at her. His eye was burning, and he could feel the hot streaks running down his face. Her eyes softened and she took his face in her hands and kissed his nose. “It will be alright. I promise,” she whispered as she pressed her forehead to his. He stared into her eyes, and for a moment he wanted everything to be ok. He wanted her to be right. But it wouldn’t be. Gage knew that. He knew that deep in his bones. 

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” He sucked in a breath, and he wasn’t sure he had actually said anything until she reacted to him. Her mouth drew into a thin line and Gage looked over at her. He was still angry, at the choices she had made and how she refused to see reason, but he was just too tired. It was like the anger had burned down to embers and he was left hollow.

Kincaid got up and she stood in front of him, her hands on her hips. He looked up at her, but didn’t follow suit.

“Come on. We both need to shower, and you need to rest some more. I only got Mason coming over tonight to talk about guard placement in Fizztop.” She held her hand out and Gage just stared at it. “After we shower, we’re gonna go climb into the fresh sheets I just put on our bed, and we’re going to rest. You can do the books if you get antsy, but we ain’t doin’ nothin’ else. Just resting.” 

Gage let out a huff and took her hand. He ached now that all the adrenaline had drained out of him, and he just wanted to have Kincaid in his arms again. He was mad, but he loved her. She held out her hands which he reluctantly accepted and she pulled him up to his feet and led him out of the Grille. She had him drop off his boot knife and boots proper on the patio, and he stared at the knife on the coffee table as she pulled him deeper into the mountain. He was afraid he’d need it, even if he was there with her.

He never knew who exactly was lurking in the shadows afterall. 

The halls were empty, so it was no surprise that when they made it to the showers they were also completely empty. Kincaid made sure to lock the door behind them. Gage moved to strip out of his clothes, but Kincaid was over to him in a heartbeat. Her soft hands ran down his abdomen, sending shivers up his spine despite the fabric between them. She worked her his shirt over his head with her too-soft hands before working the buckle of his belt. For a moment, he was wondering what her agenda was, what she was planning on doing to him. He let his hands hover as she worked, and she just let his pants fall to the tile. 

He was almost disappointed when she led him over to the stalls. 

The shower was nice, warm. It was weird though, now that they’d acknowledged their feelings Kincaid seemed to have lost all pretense of modesty around him. He was surprised when she slipped into the stall with him, though he was not going to complain in the slightest. Not with her fingers against his scalp, not with all those pretty smells bubbling up and filling the room. He just pressed his face into her shoulder while she laughed and took care of his hair. 

It felt nice; it felt good. She was warm, alive, breathing, right there beside him. He let his hands rest on her hips, and let his eye drift closed while she swapped between products. God, he could have just fallen asleep right there, but instead, she turned the water to cold and he came out of his skin. 

“JeSUS,” he’d yelped, and her laughter filled the whole communal shower. 

“The cold water at the end is good for you!” she’d tried to explain. He didn’t get it, but when she pulled him out of the stall and sat him down on the bench he only complained for a few minutes while she dried his hair. 

“You know I can do all this myself right?” he’d reminded her as she cupped his cheeks. She laughed all soft like as her thumb traced along his ruined eye socket. He looked up at her and, from where he was sitting, she was haloed in flickery fluorescents.

She pressed a kiss to his forehead and sighed. “I know love, but I’ve been wanting to do this for ages. Let me indulge.” She pulled him to his feet and handed him a clean pair of grey sweatpants. She pulled on a nightgown before she collected their clothes and lead him to the laundry room. He sat down on the bench and rubbed his good eye as she dumped their clothes into one of the washers. 

She sat beside him and leaned into his arm. He leaned his head against hers and just watched the laundry swirl. They sat like that, quietly comfortable. It was like the raiders outside didn’t exist like their problems were just far away. All that mattered was the fact she was there, he was there, and that they were together. That was until the wash dinged and Kincaid got up to put the clothes in the dryer. 

“You ever want me to do that, just say the word,” Gage told her as she arranged their clothes in the drum just so. She looked over her shoulder with a smile and Gage quirked an eyebrow. 

“I thought raiders didn’t do laundry,” she teased as she leaned against the dryer and hit the buttons. Gage snorted and Kincaid came over to stand in front of him. He looked up at her and, god, she just took the air right out of his chest. He reached up and grabbed her waist to pull her close and buried his face into her abdomen. She laughed and her hands came to rest on his biceps, while her thumb traced patterns onto his skin. 

“Boss, for you I’d do damn near anything,” he muttered into the fabric of her dress. He felt her stiffen up and for a moment he was scared, scared he’d taken it too far. But instead, she put her hands on his shoulders and squeezed comfortingly.

 

“Oh Porter,” she sighed, and he looked up at her face. “You don’t wanna be like that for someone like me.” Kincaid looked almost sad, and Gage’s brow furrowed. She gave him a sad little smile and he scanned her face, his mouth drawn into a line. 

“What’da mean?” he asked her as his hands still lingered on her waist. She ran her hands down his arms and let out a thoughtful hum. She was quiet though, beyond that. He wanted to ask what she meant, what she was playing at, but instead, she pulled him to his feet with a little smile and pulled him through the halls and back up to the Grille. Gage followed along like a loyal dog and was not surprised when Kincaid pulled him onto the patio.

“The food’s gone cold by now, but hash ain’t so bad cold.” Kincaid sighed, taking the two plates she’d prepared and brought them towards her bed. Gage just watched, enraptured. She went into her little sanctuary and for a moment Gage stood awkwardly in the heat of the Grille. When he didn’t follow she poked her head out and gave him a wry grin and motioned for him to follow with her hand. 

It dawned on him as he walked towards her little corner that he never had a chance to clean up that glass and that they were both barefoot now. He stepped into her area cautiously but was pleasantly surprised that the glass was gone. He figured she must have gotten to it while he was having his tantrum in the Grille. It wasn’t his proudest moment, but he was glad she let him get it all out before coming in. The twinge of guilt cooled the anger that time and the shower had not. He still wasn’t happy, but he was too tired to be angry right then.

She waited for him on the bed, the plates just to the side. She patted the blanket beside her and Gage was careful as he crawled into the cool sheets. It was divine, honestly. He settled into the soft mattress and cherished how warm Kincaid was as he leaned against her and ate. When they were done, Kincaid just put their plates on the side table. She snuggled up to his side and leaned her head on his shoulder. He wasn’t even laying down, but his eye started to drift closed as he listened to her heartbeat, and he could feel the tension start to flow out of his back. 

“HEY! Hey Boss-Lady!” Gage’s eye shot open and he shot up, startled. Kincaid yelped as she almost fell off the bed. Gage swung his legs over and charged out of her little area to stomp over to the railing. The lift was powered off, thank fuck. Gage figured Kincaid must have shut it down when Mackenzie skulked out. He was glad she had, but of course Mason had to be a loud idiot.

“The Boss is busy! You ain’t supposed to be here for another fuckin’-” Gage looked over at the clock on the wall and squinted. Kincaid hadn’t told him when Mason was supposed to be there, but Gage didn’t care. “Four hours!” 

 

“Bullshit!” Mason shouted up. He slapped the button to the lift repeatedly and completely ignored the tiny buzz noise the mechanism made to let him know it was off. “Boss-Lady said this afternoon! It’s afternoon!” He shaded his eyes with his left hand and stared up at Gage, his right hand still tapping the button in a frantic rhythm. 

“Yeah, it’s afternoon! By thirteen fucking minutes!” Gage snarled, and Mason just laughed. Oh, how Gage hated that fucking laugh. Gage considered for a moment running and locking all the doors in the Grille and make it so that even if Mason came inside he wouldn’t actually be able to get in. But, unlike Mackenzie, Mason was not opposed to knocking down doors. And Gage liked having doors that were unbroken and locked properly. 

“You got ten seconds before I start taking the fuckin’ stairs. And if I’m taking the stairs, Porter, I’m gonna help myself to your stuff! Gonna go through alllllll your dressers, toss every single one of your tighty whities onto the-”

“Jesus goddam Christ give me a god damn fuckin’ minute you filthy fucking animal!” Gage waved his hand and grumbled to himself as he stalked over to the power pad. His mood was not made better when he heard Kincaid’s snickers from her little sanctuary. He glared at the fabric dividers before starting to hook the power back up. Piece by piece the plugs went into place and before long the rumble of the lift descending filled the air.

Gage growled to himself and sat down on one of the chairs as Kincaid came tip toeing out of her room. She’d traded her night gown for a pair of pants and one of her tank tops, and she flopped down opposite of him. He watched with his eye narrowed as she arranged herself on the couch, her legs spread the same distance as his, her arms carefully draped over the back and the arm, also mirroring him. 

Gage idly wondered if she did that on purpose.

He didn’t wonder long however as soon the patio was invaded by the Pack Alpha. Mason came over to the couch and flopped down next to Kincaid, who laughed as she was bounced almost off it. Gage glared and Mason just stuck his tongue out at the old raider. “A’ight, so, where we stickin’ guards?” Mason asked as he scratched his crotch. Gage sneered and looked anywhere but Kincaid and Mason. 

He knew she was his now. She’d said so. It didn’t stop the pang of jealousy as Mason invaded her space and she just seemed to take it. Kincaid just swung her legs up onto Mason’s lap and leaned back into the cushions. She had produced a nail file from somewhere and had started to do whatever it was to her nails. 

“Porter is gonna know best where they need to be. He knows the mountain like the back of his hand,” Kincaid told Mason, who shoved her legs off him. 

“Yeah but like, it ain’t gonna be the most effective. I know you got your mind set on him stayin’ but-” Mason shrugged and looked back at Gage. He seemed sympathetic enough, but Gage still kept glaring at the horizon through the window. “Like, it’s the Disciples whole thing. Like, getting into places n’ shit.” Mason pointed out, and Gage snorted. “And like, Gage knows this too,” He did, in fact, know this. He tried to explain it to her too less than an hour ago. “Ain’t like the Pack ain’t good at what they do either. The Disciples just got a different skill set than my boys. There’s a reason the Disciples were picked boss, and you’re leavin’ a pie on the window sill and you’re acting like you’re going to be surprised when the dog takes it while you ain’t looking,” Mason shrugged and Kincaid just watched him. “We should just take the cyclops with us and-”

“No. I can’t take Gage because if he goes-”

“I won’t be dead,” Gage growled low and Kincaid shot him a look. Mason looked between the two of them with wide eyes, and he shrank back into the cushions a little bit. Good. Let him be uncomfortable. Let him witness too the death sentence Kincaid was giving Gage. Mason knew the sort of shit Nisha would do, surely he’d have to have seen her handiwork on some of his own Pack Animals. By all means, it was just as likely she’d have shown him herself. 

“If he goes, he’s gonna end up overworked and broken. And I ain’t gonna have his blood on my hands,” Kincaid snarled, more at Gage then Mason. Gage bared his teeth and glared right back. Fuck it. She said to trust the Alpha, and if Mason got ideas from Gage openly disrespecting Kincaid then Kincaid put her trust the wrong people. Or at least, as close to trusting as raiders got. 

“Woah ok, I came up on something didn’t I?” Mason asked lowly, and Kincaid let out a huff in response. “But Boss-Lady he’s right, you ought to listen-”

Kincaid fixed Mason with a glare and the man withered in place, staring at her.

Gage sank back into his chair and felt his guts churning. The fire had been lit again, but it was as much fear as it was anger now, and he felt like he could probably wreck the Grille again. Gage looked away and went back to glaring out the windows. He heard Mason talk quietly to Kincaid about guards and the like, but shit, Gage wasn’t about to participate. He would have to direct the poor fools when they got to Fizztop, and even then it was useless. He was just going to get stabbed anyways. He was just going to end up dead in a puddle of his own blood as he choked on a crushed windpipe, cheek against cracked tile as Kincaid was off playing conqueror over in Safari. She’d come home the big damn hero, only to find him cold on the floor. They’d make it look like a suicide too, if the fuckers had any competance. The Disciples had a year to find the limits of their ‘do no harm’ rule. He knew about their ‘don’t get caught’ rule. They wouldn’t do nothing that could be traced back to Nisha, nothing that could even remotely point towards the Disciples at all. Hell, if they were really clever, they’d frame the very Pack animals Mason stationed as guards. But Kincaid would know, she’d know and Gage would be dead and there would be nothing she could do to stop it. 

That made Gage even more mad. And he could feel it boiling under his skin. 

“Gage?” Mason whispered and Gage’s head snapped around to focus on him. Kincaid had gotten up, and walked over to the kitchenette. 

“What?” Gage grit out, and the Alpha tilted his head. 

“I’m givin’ you an out. Once we leave, just make your way down to the Zoo. We can protect you there,” Mason whispered, and Gage narrowed his eye. He snorted and Mason leaned back. “Nisha won’t expect you down there. She won’t be able to touch you there, and you’ll make it until we come back.”

“Won’t she? Kincaid’s gotten awful buddy buddy with y’all. You ain’t exactly been quiet about the hummin’ bird shit.” Gage kept his voice low as he leaned forward. He braced himself on his elbows and let out a snort. “Picking them is coming back to bite me right on my fuckin’ ass.” Gage looked away and shook his head. “Wouldn’ta been an issue if things went to plan, but it was my plan, so now it’s my problem.” Gage gestured to the scar that went up his torso, from his pants line all the way up to his collar bones. “An’ it’s definitely a fuckin’ problem.”

“Jesus,” Mason whispered. His eyes locked on the scar. Gage knew it wasn’t the first time Mason had seen it, he’d had his shirt off when he slept in Mason’s tent after all. But now he knew that Gage knew Nisha’s knife far too intimately. “How’d that happen, you don’t mind me asking?” Mason tilted his head and Gage scanned his face. He didn’t see any ill intent, didn’t hear none either. 

Gage weighed his options and found the idea of telling Mason not entirely repulsive, ‘specially if he could use it to convince Kincaid to let him go to Safari. It was a gamble, but she had a bleedin’ heart, and if the two of them could get her to change her mind then Gage would feel far better. 

Gage picked at his nails and sucked in a breath. The pros did not make it any easier. He didn’t like to think about it, let alone talk about it, but he wasn’t afraid of an old memory.

“Right after Colter beat me into the tile, when I was barely walking again, Nisha grabbed me. Made it real fuckin’ clear that the plan needed to move ahead, with or without me.” Gage looked up at Mason and leaned back. “Made it clear in the kinda way that gets you drug outta Fizztop with a rag in your mouth, and dumped into Nisha’s private playground.” 

He heard Kincaid drop a soda bottle, and when he looked over she was staring at him. Her eyes were wide, her mouth open in a little circle. Good. 

“It wasn’t like she grabbed me in person either, she had her little pets, Dixie and Savoy grab me.” Gage looked away as the memories bubbled up. He normally pushed them away, but he forced himself to keep it together. “And Savoy pressed his knife to my throat as he drug me out of the mountain, kickin’ and tryin’ to scream as they hauled me into their rotting fuckin’-” Gage had to pause. He could smell it still, over the air. His guts churned and for a moment he was sure he was going to be sick. It was all a little too real, a little too fresh to be just a memory. “Their den.” Gage finished, looking over before having to look away again. “Then, they took me up and up and up until I was in Nisha’s play house. You ever seen it?” Gage asked. Mason shook his head and Porter’s lips pulled across his teeth in a mockery of a smile. “Its a ring, right on top o’ their shity little palace of shipping crates. She’s got a few scrapped power armor racks up there, arranged just so. Got a rack with all her knives too. Did you know she has a lot of ‘em? Not surprising, not really.” Gage gestured with his hands before pushing curls that hadn’t quite grown back in out of his face out of force of habit. “She hangs people from those racks so they keep standing while she peels off their skin. Inch by fuckin’ inch.” 

Gage looked back to Mason who had leaned forward with a look of horror on his obnoxious painted face. It was some kinda satisfying, Gage wasn’t gonna lie. “So she takes me by the chin right?” Gage pushed himself up, closing the distance between his armchair and his couch. Mason stared up at him as Gage pulled his boot knife off the coffee table. He took Mason’s chin in hand and pressed his knife to Mason’s throat, and the alpha did nothing. “Right like so, and she’s got Savoy holding me up,” Gage explained, his eye half closed. “And she tells me, ‘you’re gonna fix this Porter Gage, and you’re gonna fix it fast’ as she draws a knife from her belt.” He pulled the knife away from Mason’s neck and pointed the tip at the scar on his torso, starting at the grey pants Kincaid had given him. “And she pulls that knife up me, as she talks.” Gage said real low as he traced the raised flesh. “She goes ‘Listen Porter, You’ll kill Colter, and you’ll put up a boss that’ll honor the terms of the deal’ and I’m listening, I’m listening real fuckin’ good,” Gage growled as he pulled his knife away and glared down at Mason. “And Savoy is crushin’ my throat, right like Colter did, not as tight though. Not near so tight,” Gage mused, picking at his nails. “And guess what I did when they finally let me go, Mason? Guess fuckin’ what?” Gage asked. 

Mason leaned forward, his eyes wide. “What?” he whispered. Gage sneered down at him, his eye narrowed into a thin slit. Gage got close, real fuckin’ close. He had to have been close enough that Mason could feel his breath. He was silent for a moment, then two. Mason’s attention was entirely on him, and Gage didn’t see any disgust in his eyes. He saw worry, and fear, and a little bit of curiosity. That was fine. Gage could use that. He needed more people on his side anyways, and Kincaid listened intently, though she pretended she wasn’t, just as close. She hadn’t bothered to pick up her soda, she hadn’t even come away from the counter. Didn’t matter, he made sure to say it loud enough for her to hear. 

“I picked the one god damn person in the world who could take one look at Nisha and decide to fuckin’ screw her over.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dunno if ya'll know this, but, sometimes...
> 
> Kincaid makes bad decisions.


	39. Should I Stay or Should I Go

It didn’t work.

She still left him behind.

She dropped her soda and stared at him as he described the horrors he suffered at Nisha, but she didn’t do anything. In fact, it just made her more resolute. 

“You have to heal,” she said. “You’ve been hurt too much,” she said. “Nisha won’t dare,” she insisted. Mason tried to explain to her, he legitimately tried, and Porter would give him that much. She decided in the end that it meant that Gage was too hurt, that he’d been hurt too much and too often. He needed the break. She was wrong, but Gage just sat down and glared at the floor. 

It had been useless. But Mason had still tried.

“Boss-Lady,” Mason snarled, and Kincaid just set her mouth in a line. Gage didn’t think he’d ever seen Mason get angry over anything that wasn’t a threat his sister or his second. “You should listen to your second.”

She ought to have listened, but she didn’t.

Gage snarled as he pulled back from the Disciple on the floor. The Pack Animals hadn’t even arrived yet. He didn’t think Kincaid had even left town. She was probably down at the Zoo still. 

The fucker had crept in, all quiet, while Gage was working on the books. But Gage had rigged the door, and when the door opened he was ready and waiting. The small explosion from one of Kincaid’s mines caught the Disciple off guard, and Gage had clipped the bitch with his pistol. She surged forward and he tried to go to the side, only to catch a shiv to the thigh. Didn’t matter though, he was pissed and he shot her over and over again with his pistol. The first shot caught her in the shoulder, then she took four more to her chest. She looked up at him with a snarl from her place on the ground so he grabbed one of the baseball bats Kincaid had strewn about the weapons bench and he beat her into the tile. 

He could feel the blood running down his leg, and he could feel the poison spreading from the new wound in his thigh. His hands started to shake and he spat on the body, hobbling over to his bed where he already had the medkit out. He took a general antidote, and he felt the burning in his leg start to subside. If this was Nisha’s best, it was weak shit. He quickly bandaged the wound and injected a quarter dose of med-x. It was supposed to be for the worst migraines, but he needed it now if he was going to keep moving. 

The little bitch wasn’t Nisha’s best, Gage knew that. She was just testing the waters.

Gage drug the body from the Grille out to the patio by its hair, and then he dropped it and went over to the balcony. He looked over the edge, counting the Disciples on patrol. 

Three times as many as usual. He wasn’t getting out of the mountain via the front door.

He left the body to rot in the patio, a grim reminder for when Kincaid got back. He made his way back inside the Grille and he blocked the door with a bookshelf and went over to the far corner. There was a camera there, unplugged and powered down. That was fine, Gage had been the one to do it. He didn’t like to be watched, didn’t like the idea of Russ checking up on him constantly. 

He climbed up on a chair and fiddled with the cables, getting the camera to power on. He moved in front of it and tapped on the glass, glaring into the lens. “Russ,” Gage growled low. “Russ, I know you’re there, fuckin’ answer me. You best be at security or so help me god I’ll shoot you myself,” Gage groused, continuing to mess around with the camera. 

It moved of its own accord and a wicked smile spread across Gage’s lips. Jackpot.   
Gage hopped down and went over to the table, writing on a piece of paper as the camera surveyed the room. The bloodstain was obvious, and it was clear Gage had recently killed someone. At least, Gage hoped it was clear, shoulda been clear, by all means. Wasn’t important though, what was important was the sign Gage made. 

“Disciples tried to kill me, gonna make my way to the security station through the tunnels.” 

Gage held it up and watched the camera focus on it. He let Russ read it for a minute or two before tossing it aside and going to the broken elevator. There was no way in hell Gage was going to try and creep through the upper floor, especially not with how dizzy he was getting from the painkiller. If there was one disciple, there were twenty more waiting. He dragged a chair over and popped the center panel out of the ceiling of the cramped little cube before pulling himself up and on top of the elevator. He wriggled around the winch and the supports so that he could get to the security hatch just above. It had a simple lock on it, one that he had placed.

He unlocked it with a key from his belt and the hatch fell open. He stared into the dark as he pulled himself inside, trying to ignore how tight the space was. It was just a little access area, meant for technicians to work on the elevator. But those prewar techs weren’t as big as Gage apparently, because it was an awful squeeze. He pulled himself along the area until it widened up into the access point proper and he could actually breathe. He eased himself out of the tight tunnel and into the service room, which was dark as hell save the lights along the floor. 

He knew the path by heart, he’d used it many times to get out of the mountain without Colter knowing. He kept to the employee halls, and he kept silent as the dead. Just as he’d expected, on the other side of the thin walls he could hear people moving. Disciples most likely, but there was the possibility of Pack too. Didn’t matter, he kept going, deeper and deeper until he knew he was in the tunnels below the park, into the security tunnels that were Russell’s domain. 

It was cold down there, despite the heat above. And most of the lights didn’t work too well. Gage padded along, keeping his pistol ready. He needed to make a new stock for his rifle as soon as possible, the dinky little thing in his hands wasn’t going to do too much to anyone more determined than a grunt told to clean the barracks. It was silent though, the weird kinda silence that set Gage on edge. The quiet made his ears prickle as he strained to hear every noise. He held his breath to listen for anyone following him, but all he could hear was his heart thudding against his ribs.

He must have been walking for an hour before he stopped to rest. He hadn’t heard anyone, hadn’t seen signs of anyone being down here for a long while. Just him and the bugs, deep underground. Gage put his back against the wall and palmed at his good eye, letting out a sigh. This all woulda been a whole fuck ton easier if Kincaid had just fucking listened for once in her god damn life. But she didn’t, and now he was here. 

Situations like this were the exact reason Gage never told anyone about the tunnels, save Russ of course. It was his back up plan, his ace in the hole. No one else knew the markings they used, subtle as they were, to navigate the darkness. Ultimately, if Gage ever did have to flee Nuka-World, he could likely live below for a week to get anyone off his trail. It would be hellish, and he’d probably be paranoid by the end of it, but if he had to, he could.

It didn’t mean he wanted to, though.

They never were able to map out the whole thing, so who the fuck knew what was down in the deepest parts. There could have been all sorts of critters down here, like red-eyes or radrats or those freaky little possum bastards. It could be deathclaws too. It would have to be a pretty small deathclaw to fit in the tunnel, so it was unlikely but possible, he supposed. God, he hoped it wasn’t deathclaws, wasn’t much a fan of deathclaws if he was honest about it. Even tiny ones.

Probably best not to think about deathclaws. 

Gage rubbed his face again and let out a sigh. He had at least another half hour of walking until he got to Russ if the bastard was even home. For all Gage knew, the bastard coulda went running out like he was fucking possessed, tryin’ to get the boss’ attention before she left. He coulda done something stupid, like get the attention of everyone in the fuckin’ park and declaring a Disciple tried to kill Gage, tip Nisha off so she could go and take Nuka-Town while Caid was out. He hoped Russ had stayed put. He hoped to god, baby Jesus, all the sinners and saints, and the whole damn angelic choir that Russ had kept his ass planted in his overpriced chair.

Gage was half tempted to camp down, to try and rest. Honestly, in the tunnel, he was the safest he’d been alone for a long while. But he hadn’t brought any kinda Pack, let alone his own, or supplies, or much of anything beyond the pistol shoved into the waistband of his pants and the bloodied baseball bat. He hadn’t even brought water, which sucked because his mouth felt like he’d just swallowed a cotton field. He patted down his pockets and was dismayed to learn he also didn’t bring his cigs. 

Gage forced himself to his feet and let out a huff. No use waiting around, he needed to get to the security center, get a kit together, and then head to Safari- Kincaid be damned. There was no way in hell he was staying in Nuka-Town after being openly attacked. He started down the tunnels again and focused entirely on raiding Russ’ stash. He could get cigs there, the good ones too. The bastard tended to hoard them and he barely even smoked. 

It didn’t take long until Gage got to a door that looked like it had been tagged by raiders, with red and black flames drawn shakily crawling up the door. It was Russ’ work, and it denoted the entrance to his studio. Gage opened the door slowly, as to not alert anyone inside. The light was blinding after so long in the dark, and he heard a shrill yelp. 

“Oh, it's you. That door never fucking opens.” Russ sighed, standing up from his chair. Gage nodded and looked around, staying silent in case Russ’ equipment was broadcasting. Russell watched as Gage padded in, looking around for anyone else. “It's just us you know. The Pack left already. I ran and tried to get Caid’s attention but they wouldn’t even let me in the Zoo. Fuckers.” Russ grumbled as Gage let out a sigh. 

“How much did you-”

“Just said I had to see the boss was all, nothin’ relating to you. I know better than that.” Russ looked insulted but Gage didn’t care. He went over to Russell’s side table and started digging around, pulling out a couple of cartons of cigs. Russell objected, naturally, but Gage didn’t care too much. He paused halfway through though, at bright red plastic and little aluminum canisters.

Gage turned to Russ, his eye narrowing. “Since when do you smoke jet?” Gage growled, real low and deep. Russ dropped low behind his plush chair and his eyes went wide. “You’re aware what this shit does? What it does to you?” Gage asked and Russell nodded.

“Yeah but it ain’t too much-”

Gage growled again and knocked the emptied jet to the floor. “Ain’t matter. You lookin’ to get killed?” Gage felt the anger prickling up his back. He knew Russell drank on occasion, but jet? That was new. That didn’t seem like something he’d have sought out on his own.

“Excuse me! I ain’t lookin’ for nothing but to relax after a stressful day-” Russell argued as Gage stopped listening and turned back to the side table, knocking the jet to the floor and pulling out more cigs. Gage didn’t need to hear the excuses, he’d heard them all before. The only person he was obligated to help was Kincaid, and if Russ got killed because he decided to get blitzed it would be unfortunate, but ultimately irrelevant. 

Gage wasn’t sure why that made his guts twist up all bad, but it did. And he didn’t like it. 

He shoved the feelings down and looked around for a lighter, getting more and more irate the longer it took. He finally turned to Russell, his mouth open to demand help when he saw the lighter in the DJ’s hand, and the DJ wearing a sympathetic look on his face. Gage really did not like that shit at all. He snatched the lighter away and wasted no time getting a cig lit and smoke in his lungs. He let the smoke flow and looked back over at Russ, who was digging in an old medkit. 

Gage tilted his head and Russ looked up, frowning. “Dude. You have blood-”

“I sure hope I do,” Gage retorted with a snort as the DJ’s face screwed up. 

“No you ass! It’s running down your fucking leg!” Russ pointed at his leg and Gage looked down and let out a hum. He hadn’t realized, and he couldn’t really be too assed to care. He hopped up onto the desk and Russell peeled away the bandage. “Gage this isn’t the kinda thing you should be walking around with!” Russ fussed, and Gage shrugged. He didn’t really feel it, he just kinda felt tingly. 

Russell had him pull his pants down enough that he could clean the wound, and Gage stared off into space as Russ prepared the tools to patch him up. At least the DJ knew to sanitize the needle with fire and how to prepare the thread. Gage wondered, briefly, where Russ learned all this. He did not wonder long.

“You are so fuckin’ lucky that Si taught me this shit.” Russ groused, and Gage gave him a look. 

“Who’s Si?” Gage asked and Russ just stared at him and blinked. The DJ looked like he was evaluating if Gage was just an asshole, or if he was sincere. Honestly, for once in his life Gage was sincere, he had no idea who Russell was talking about.

He seemed to come to a conclusion as he tied pulled the thread through the needle. “My girlfriend, asshole. The Pack Animal I was telling you about a couple of weeks back while you were stuck in fuckin’ bed?” Russell offered, but Gage did not remember any of that. Gage had met a lot of Pack over the last two or so months, but names didn’t tend to stick for long.

“Not ringing any bells,” Gage admitted as he took a drag and Russell sighed. “And I have a hard time believing a human woman would date you. You sure you ain’t just named your left hand?” Gage teased, chuckling to himself as Russell groaned. The DJ shook his head and Gage frowned as Russ muttered something under his breath. “Come on it was a fuckin’ joke. I was fucking out of my god damn mind with all the meds, I don’t remember like half the shit I was told while I was recoverin’. Mackenzie and her little goon had me dosed up on so much Med-X I couldn’t even feel-”

He did feel it however when Russ jammed the needle into the skin, and the yelp wasn’t a sound he expected himself to make. “That hurts!” Gage proclaimed and Russell just looked up at him and made a face.

“No shit.” Russ huffed and continued, Gage looking everywhere but the needle. “And that ‘little goon’ is my fucking girlfriend you giant fuckin-”

“Wait, what?” Gage asked as he looked back down at Russell. The DJ stared up at him from the floor and Gage just squinted. Gage was scouring his mind for every interaction he’d had with the pack doctor he could remember, and he was getting frustrated all he could bring up were blanks. Yeah, he’d first met her with Kincaid, and she’d helped him out a couple of times now. He really only remembered being surprised that she could talk to Mason with so much disrespect in Safari. His nose crinkled up and he looked back at Russell. “I don’t believe you,” he growled, batting Russell’s hands away from his half-stitched leg. “If you had a girlfriend you’d be blabbing about it all over the radio like-” 

“Oh yeah like I’m gonna blab about dating Mason’s sister on the fuckin’ radio-” Gage felt his blood run cold, his eye wide as Russ continued to bitch. “Unlike you, I don’t have a fuckin’ deathwish.”

Gage’s mind ground to a halt, his cig falling to the floor. Russell let out a peep as Gage hopped off the desk and grabbed him by his shirt, lifting the poor bastard off the ground and slamming him into the closest wall. “The fuck you mean I got a death wish?!” Gage snarled, his eyes scanning Russ’ face. If the DJ knew about him and Caid, it was likely Gage would have to kill him. No one could know. No one could-

“Gage, what the hell?” Russell asked, and Gage’s blood ran cold. He dropped the DJ and stumbled back, backing up into the desk. He pulled off his eyepatch and rubbed his face and he just tried to breathe. There was no way Russell knew, not unless Caid told him, and she’d made a promise not to. She’d promised him that- “Hey Porter, look at me. What’s going on?” Russell asked, as he stood next to Gage. The raider just wheezed and stared at the DJ, the words frozen in his mouth. “Gage, you ain’t ok, talk to me.”

Gage didn’t want to talk. He didn’t want to tell Russell anything; he didn’t want to tell anyone anything.

“Kincaid fucking left me here to fucking die, of course, I ain’t okay,” Gage blurted out before he could stop himself. “I don’t fucking want to talk to you about how I got shanked a couple of fucking hours after she left for the Zoo. And how it ain’t exactly feel great that she made this grand decision to leave me behind after we-” He stopped. He made himself stop. He couldn’t tell Russell this. He couldn’t tell anyone about this.

“After you two, what?” Russ prompted. Gage choked and he looked around the room, trying and scrambling for anything, any excuse he could come up with that would satisfy the DJ and not end up outing the both of them. But his brain was blank, despite how fast his thoughts were racing past. It was like he was trying to grab at running water, and it was just slipped through his fingers. “Gage? What did you two do?” Russell asked again, and Gage let out a pathetic noise. He looked up at the DJ and once again Gage felt like he was standing on the edge of an abyss. Could he trust Russell? The man hadn’t hurt him before, despite countless opportunities to do so. Russ had even helped him at his worst moments, after Colter left him to bleed out, after Nisha had kidnapped him. Would Kincaid be mad that he’d ended up spilling? After how much of a fuss he’d made about it how could she not be? 

“Porter, you’re crying.” Russell pointed out, and Gage went still. “Hey, dude, talk to me. You know you can talk to me right?” Gage shook his head and covered his mouth. He didn’t trust himself not to say something stupid, not to make a mistake that was going to cost Kincaid her life. Russ frowned and got real close, putting his hands on Gage’s shoulders. Gage looked up at the DJ, who looked more serious than he ever had in his entire life. “Did Kincaid, like, take advantage of you or anything?” he asked quietly, scanning Gage’s face. 

Gage could feel the blood drain from his face, and Russ seemed to draw his conclusion with that. “Ok, that’s not cool I’m gonna-”

“You ain’t gonna do shit because that ain’t what happened!” Gage blurted out, and Russ turned to him. Russ paused and Gage ran his hands over the sides of his head, letting the prickle of stubble ground him a little bit. “That’s not what happened.”

 

“You sure?” Russ asked, squinting at the old raider who was leaning against his desk with one-half of his pants sagging down his waist. God Gage was a fucking mess. 

“Damn fuckin’ sure,” Gage said with a brisk nod, trying to build his resolve. “Even if it did, that’s the Boss’-”

“Don’t give me that Gage, you know I don’t subscribe to your like code of raider-bullshit or nothin’,” Russell told him outright, pulling up his chair and planting his ass in it. “Tell me what happened.”

Gage rubbed his face again and let out a shakey sigh. He just really liked making mistakes didn’t he? Just loved doin’ it. Loved fuckin’ everything up. But the cat was out of the bag now, and quite frankly Gage wasn’t going to be able to spin this in any other way. 

“We fucked alright, we fucked in a dank dark tunnel and it was good. Damn good.” Gage spat out, resisting the urge to get up and pace. His leg was starting to ache and he could feel the sharpness of the wound a lot more clearly now. “But then I got cold fuckin’ feet. I thought she was a lesbian, I thought... Shit, I don’t know what I thought.” Russ nodded and resumed trying to close up the wound. “And I told her we couldn’t do this, and she was like ‘well let’s run away’ you know, like she does. Fuckin’ runs from all her problems,”

“I didn’t know that, but do continue,” Russ commented and Gage frowned. Russell jammed the needle back into his skin as Gage went to speak and a sharp yelp escaped him instead. “Sorry, I don’t exactly have a lot of practice doing this,” Russell explained, and Gage nodded and looked anywhere but the stab wound on his leg.

“She runs from her problems, figured we could fix the Nisha issue, and the William issue, if we just run-”

“Because if the Bosses get wind of this, they ain’t gonna be happy. ‘Specially not Will after what happened at that party,” Russ nodded like it made the most sense in the world, and that made Gage feel better. Made him feel less like his world was turned entirely upside down, maybe it was just on its side for a little bit. 

“Ex-Fuckin’-actly!” Gage proclaimed, leaning his head back against the wall behind him. “And I told her, I can’t do that. And she was like ‘why not’ and I told her we can’t run from these problems-”

“Because if you do, the bosses’ will follow.”

“Thank you!” Gage gestured with his arms and almost lost his balance. He settled back down, and Russ pat his leg comfortingly. “God, I tried to explain that to her and it didn’t get through her thick skull,” Gage bitched and palmed at his eye. “And I was ready for her to ask again because she does that, but then she was like ‘what if we keep it secret’ and fucking christ,” Gage paused and he heard Russ sigh. Gage looked up and saw Russ offering him the pack of cigs, and Gage took them quickly. He stuck another cig between his lips and quickly lit it with Russ’ lighter. 

The first drag helped calm him, and he let the smoke flow slowly. “So she hits me with that and I’m at a loss. Just a total fuckin’ loss. She ain’t want someone like me, not with the fucked life I’ve had,”

“Why not though?” Russ asked, tilting his head and lighting a cig for himself. “Dude she’s been smitten for you for a long-”

“She’s been what?” Gage snarled. He didn’t mean to, but he did. Russell laughed, shaking his head and leaning back into the leather.

Gage watched Russ take another, dramatic drag. “Dude I’ve known she was head over heels for you since she came flying in here like a wrecking ball trying to figure out who Dixie was. She was obviously jealous because she’d thought you were ‘Making GOO GOO eyes at some Operator floozy’, her words, not mine.” Russell laughed. 

Gage’s blood had just gone cold as ice. This was new information, and he was scared now that the cat had, apparently, been out of the bag long before the cat even existed. What if Nisha knew? Or William? Was the fact that Gage had been holding back the only thing that was keeping them from being burned at the stake? Having their flesh ripped off and their organs repurposed? Would Kincaid return from safari only to find-

“Gage, stick with me now.” Russ snapped and Gage focused on him. “You’re spiraling again. Breathe. Take a smoke break,” Gage did as he was told and took a drag on his cig. “And don’t worry, she’s been real good to keep up appearances, but we’re friends Porter, I like to think I know her- even if it’s just a little bit.” Russell explained. “Only other person I think coulda caught on would be Mason, and I don’t think he really cares.”

“I hope not.” Gage whispered, his voice shaking slightly. He was afraid, he was so very very afraid now. He took another drag and they sat in silence for a while, Gage trying to process all this new information. He’d been so smitten, so focused on Kincaid, he’d missed so much. And now he had a fear in the back of his brain that the moment they turned someone was going to kill them. 

“Gage, hey,” Russell smiled as Gage looked up. “Are you hungry? You look like you haven’t eaten.” And Gage just nodded. “Just breathe dude, it’ll be ok. People fuck around, it happens. And this is good for you, she’s really fuckin’ into you. You don’t gotta be worried on that front you know?” Russ told him as he dug around in a drawer of his desk. He pulled out a pack of snack cakes and pushed the box into Gage’s hands. “You got enough to be worried about. You don’t have to worry about that.” 

“Ok,” Gage mumbled. He was just tired now, all he wanted to do was sleep. It was too much at once, too much going on. He pulled open the box of snack cakes and for a moment he was back at that tunnel, and Kincaid was holding one of the little chocolate ones with the white icing. He felt his face flush as he popped one of the cakes in his mouth, keeping quiet as Russell bustled around him.

“I still got that bed tucked into the corner, if you wanna rest for tonight. I’ll set up the radio with a couple shows I prerecorded and we can head out to Safari in the morning,” Gage looked up as Russ shoved a cotton candy bite in his mouth. “Because if you think I’m letting you go alone? You got another thing fuckin’ coming,” Russ told him when Gage opened his mouth. Gage closed it and for just a moment, he let himself relax. 

“Yeah, I think I’d uh,” Gage sighed and a small chuckle escaped him. “I think I’d like it if you came along. It’d be good to have someone to watch my back.” Gage couldn’t look at Russell, but he could feel how the bastard was beaming. It was true though, and Russ was just about the only person that wasn’t Kincaid that Gage trusted. 

He was bone dead tired though, and it became obvious that Russell saw it. The DJ motioned for Gage to follow and they went to the next room over. It was slow going, and Gage braced himself on the walls while Russell fiddled with keys and a lock. The door swung open and Russell led Gage into his bedroom, which was good and dark and quiet.

Gage couldn’t push aside the memories of waking up in here with a tube down his throat, hearing Russ broadcasting in the other room. The hazy feeling of Med-X and the ache as he pulled the monitors off and pulled the plastic from his mouth. Russ had left the small mattress in the corner, apparently prepared for the next time that Gage would have to take shelter here. There were many blankets tossed onto it haphazardly, but Gage didn’t mind so much. He lowered himself down and Russ tossed him a pack of jerky for the morning. 

“Ok, I’m gonna go get all that shit set up, you rest in here ok?” 

“Ok,” Gage whispered as he sank into the mattress. He pulled the blankets around himself and Russ seemed satisfied. With a little nod, the DJ closed the door and Gage was left in a blessed dark. He let out a sigh and his eye closed.

For a moment, just a moment, things seemed like they might just turn out ok for once.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic I have ever published, and the first I've written in literal years. Any suggestions are appreciated, thanks for reading! 
> 
> For more about my Courier Six, you can check out her tag over on my tumblr here  
> http://thefearsomejabberwock.tumblr.com/tagged/Kincaid  
> I also have her playlist over here  
> https://open.spotify.com/user/fearsome.jabberwock/playlist/21xU99bidwpSp7qOb9C6tT?si=WjIK7tzHTrW44cbza1NfoQ


End file.
